Recap Roundup - Top Chef All-Stars Finale

Minxeats on Mike needing to win: "Mike says he has to win because he quit his job and missed his honeymoon. I have no idea what either of them have to do with winning or losing: he quit his job at Zaytinya in late 2010 to open his restaurant Graffiato, and he got married in August of 2009, long after Top Chef Las Vegas finished taping, and well before the All-Stars season was even a twinkle in Andy Cohen's eye."

Jordan Baker on Tom's kitchen visit: "Tom thru! It’s kind of the meanest Tom thru ever – he basically goes to each restaurant and tries to psych them out by reminding Mike he hasn’t been in the finale before and Richard that he blew up during his."

Grub Street on Mike's traits: "Richard rightly pointed out that Mike's strength and weakness are the same: confidence and swagger. Also, snarky jerk faces. But to be fair, he did seem to really pull out the leadership skills with almost no dickishness, unlike he has throughout his two seasons."

Fork in the Road on restaurant hopping: "Then all of the judges swap restaurants, and for a brief, horrible second it looks like we'll be treated to all of this interminable sweating and analysis all over again, but fortunately we get an extended montage instead, with Richard rushing to fix his lumpy foie ice cream.">

Monkeys as Critics on Mike: "Mike tells Richard that if Richard wins he’ll feel like bleep. Gee, that’s a nice sentiment. Just when I was thinking, well, Mike’s not all bad he has to go and convince me that, well, actually, he is."

My Monkey Could Do That on the winning: "But there is only one winner, and that winner is Richard! WOO! Everyone comes to mob him, but some people come to comfort Mike. Whatever! Mike lost! He’s so happy. Mike says 'I feel like I beat him, but I didn’t get the prize.' Shut up Mike. Richard calls his wife in confessional, and she can’t believe it, and it’s so cute."

David Dust on Carla: "if Carla Hall doesn't get her own show, then the people in charge of The Teevee need a swift kick in the Hootie Hoos. I would watch the hell outta anything she was on - especially if the show also included Carla's adorable husband."

Max the Girl on stealth techniques: "The best part of Blais’s group is Spike, totally creeping in the background, serving as spy. 'Spike is very crafty,' says Blais. (In fact, Spike couldn’t be less crafty if he were wearing a sign around his neck that read: 'Number One Spy.')"

Check out the Creative Loafing Top Chef 8 Finale Extravaganza Podcast (now with video)!

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Bravo Exit Interviews - Mike Isabella and Richard Blais

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ATC Love to Chef Mike Isabella

Although Chef Isabella did not win Top Chef All-Stars, he came very, very close. The dishes he prepared as part of his dream restaurant were all lauded by the judges, particularly his pork shoulder with pepperoni sauce which particularly impressed Gail Simmons.

It was easy to see that Chef Isabella worked very hard to get as far as he did in the competition, particularly in the time between the end of the regular season and the finale, when he honed his skills and learned new techniques. Kudos to him for that - he really wanted this win.


Chef Isabella, we're looking forward to the opening of your new restaurant, Graffiato, and wish you much success in the future.

This post is only for positive things about Chef Isabella and his food. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

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Congratulations, Chef Richard Blais - You are TOP CHEF!

A hearty congratulations goes out to our newest Top Chef, Richard Blais!

Richard started to doubt himself late in the season, claiming to hate everything he cooked. But he pulled it together for the very last challenge, and with his team of sous chefs, opened the "restaurant of his dreams." The judges were especially impressed with his first two dishes, and his amuse.


This win was a long time in coming and well deserved. Again, congrats to Chef Blais. We're excited to see what new and exciting things come out of his kitchen, and eagerly await news on any upcoming restaurants.

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Blais and his dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

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Reactions to the Top Chef All Stars Finale

In this fourth round of the season 8 finale, Chefs Richard Blais and Mike Isabelle duked it out for the title of Top Chef.

The final challenge - to create the "restaurant of their dreams" with the help of three sous chefs who were their former competition, chosen by blind taste test. Richard lucks out and chooses Antonia, Spike, and Angelo, while Mike gets Jamie, Carla, and Tiffani.

Mike chooses to call his place "Restaurant Iz" and insists that his sous chefs prepare only his dishes, while Blais, in "Tongue in Cheek," allows his sous to play to their own strengths.

There are two lots of judges, including Hubert Keller, Alfred Portale, Lidia Bastianich, Art Smith, Top Chef Masters' new host Curtis Stone, and Bill Terlato who of course contributed the wine for the battle. Half the chefs ate at one restaurant, then switched when they completed the four courses offered there.

The battle was very, very close, with both chefs garnering praise from the judges; however, one chef edged out his competition by a nose.

Congratulations, Richard Blais!

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One Last Battle Before Tonights Finale

Richard Blais and Mike Isabella duked it out in battle vegetable lasagna this morning on the Today show:

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Top Chef All-Stars FINALE Previews

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And the Winner Will Be....?

poll by twiigs.com

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Recap Roundup - Top Chef All-Stars Finale Part 3

Monkeys as Critics on potentially bad choices: "Mike gets first pick. He picks the canned goods competition for Antonia, because it’s the toughest and most disgusting. So much for chivalry. Antonia picks hot dogs for Richard. Richard picks the one pot challenge for Mike. Richard thinks this will be challenging, and Antonia thinks he’s stupid. Mike will get to cook with any ingredient he wants in the kitchen, as long as he only uses one pot. Does Richard not realize Mike can wash out the pot and reuse it?"

Jordan Baker on Tom in the kitchen: "Tom thru! You know, one of the things that’s sadly lacking in recent seasons is the Tom thru on a regular basis. They need to bring that back – I miss hearing what he has to say. In this case, he says that Mike picked the easiest dish for himself. THANK YOU, Tom, for acknowledging in one compact phrase that this is a radically uneven challenge and that Mike is full of shit when claiming he has one of the harder challenges."

Minxeats on Japanese food: "And finally, Morimoto tells Antonia about the deceptively simple lunch of miso soup, pickles, and sashimi that his mom prepared for him when he came home from playing baseball. Mom, apparently suffering from OCD, used to pick through the rice to make sure all the grains were the same size before she cooked them. No pressure, Antonia."

My Monkey Could Do That on bullshit: "Back in the hotel Antonia gives Mike crap for screwing her twice over in both challenges. He tries to accuse her of wanting it easy, but she claims to be happy to have Morimoto. If she pulls it off, it’ll be awesome. That’s true. Then Mike tries to tell her she has the easy one, and he and Richard have the challenges. Antonia calls him on his bullshit and says if that was so, then why didn’t he take Morimoto? He says because he knew Michelle would be the biggest challenge."

Reality TV Calendar on Mike: "Had Mike had any confidence in his own abilities, he would have chosen Morimoto for himself – or, if he really wanted to win at any cost, he could have chosen Morimoto for Blais; thus assuring the “cousins” would move into the finale together. Since Mike has made his disdain for female chefs no secret, he unsurprisingly said he wanted to be sure to go against Blais in the finale."

Max the Girl on pre-Elimination Challenge jitters: "The hotel room now resembles One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Antonia is prone to random jags of laughter. Richard is the poster child for nerve-related acid reflux. And Mike is pacing uncontrollably. They really are like some sort of social experiment gone awry."

A Just Recompense on making good decisions: "Antonia gets hamachi from the cooler, which is always nice for raw preparation. She tastes it and it tastes awful, it’s about to go rancid. She uses tuna instead, though she knows it’s less flavorful. Good move, Antonia, because rancid hamachi is the flavorful you don’t want."

Carol Blymire on the judges: "The judges and dinner guests arrive: Padma, Tom and Gail, the three chefs and Melanie Dunea, author and photographer of 'My Last Supper,' which came out, like, four years ago. What’s next week, guys? Cooking from 'Liberace Cooks'? Way to be timely."

David Dust on season 8 in general: "Come to think of it, this entire season should have been called Top Chef: Meatloaf - a little bit of good meat and a whole bunch of filler."

Don't forget about Creative Loafing's always entertaining Top Chef podcast!

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Top Recipe - Top Chef All Stars Finale Part 3

Check out Top Chef Master Rick Moonen making Richard Blais' winning goulash recipe here.

Find a printable version of the recipe here.

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Bravo Exit Interview - Antonia LoFaso

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Congratulations, Chef Richard Blais

Chef Richard Blais has been psyching himself out for much of the second half of this All-Stars season, but ultimately he has accomplished something no other cheftestant has: to make it so far in the competition, he'll never have to hear Padma tell him to pack his knives and go.

Blais' dish for Wolfgang Puck's last supper was roundly praised by the judges, pulling off a very difficult strudel and impressing Chef Puck with the flavors of his goulash.



Chef Blais, it's great to see you make it to the finale yet again. Can  you win this time? Fingers crossed!

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Blais and his dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

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ATC Love to Chef Antonia LoFaso

Chef Antonia LoFaso came thisclose to being in the finale in both her seasons of Top Chef. This time around, it almost looked like she was going to make it, but Cousin Mike beat her by a nose.

Chef LoFaso was a strong competitor all season; even when she was on the bottom in early team challenges, her dishes were praised. She is a great chef and we're very disappointed to see her leave at this point in the game.


Chef Antonia, we at All Top Chef wish you much luck in your future endeavors.

This post is only for positive comments about Chef LoFaso and her dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

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Top Chef All Stars Finale Part 3 Previews

It's the penultimate episode before the big finale and with only THREE cheftestants left, the heat is on for these All-Stars to deliver perfection-only. But will the seemingly-simplest of Quickfire Challenges end up tripping up the cheftestants when they must make the most delicious one-pot meal? And when the remaining three concept their ideas for their Elimination Challenge, a nervous Richard Blais starts to realize that perhaps Mike Isabella is more of a threat than initially realized. Is Mike the quiet underdog? Find out tonight, 3/23, @ 10/9c!

Recap Roundup - Top Chef All-Stars Finale Part 2

Buddy TV on "finals:" "It's the second week of the finals now. Which means we only have two or three more weeks of the finals to go! You know, when you think about it, it's not so final with so many weeks. But I guess it makes the Top Chef people happy."

Max the Girl on jammies: "Richard, who apparently sleeps in the latest from the K-Fed sleepwear collection, wakes up Mike, who, in a cruel twist of fate, sleeps topless. (I wish I could say that this will be the last time the words 'Mike' and 'topless' are used in the same sentence in this blog, but I just can’t lie like that.)"

Reality TV Calendar on Antonia strikes again: "Mike reminds us that Antonia is known as the black hammer. Pair with her and you go home. Well, not every time, Mike but you are right. It does happen."

My Monkey Could Do That on commercials: "Oh look, a commercial for 'Marcel’s Quantum Kitchen.' Shut up, Marcel."

Monkeys as Critics on this season's challenges: "The next morning, the chefs go down to a dock where Padma greets them in a bikini and a carefully placed post-baby wrap. The little crappy boat she stands next to will take them to a deserted island. They will have to make a nice lunch. I repeat, on a deserted island. Sooooo, 'Survivor' meets 'Top Chef.' Really? I’m getting a little sick of the ridiculous challenges, to be honest. I don’t want to go to a restaurant at which a chef has done an admirable job with a live eel, a container of Sterno and fourteen toothpicks, so I’d like the winner of 'Top Chef' to be someone who does impressive work in a kitchen with all the appropriate accessories."

Carol Blymire on cooking on the beach: "They find crates of fresh spiny lobster, snapper, grouper, and learn they have to snorkel for their conch. We then move to a montage of them snorkeling and diving for conch that look like they were probably placed there by Pappy’s Fish ’N’ Tackle just a few minutes before. Blais and Tiff struggle on their dives, while Antonia navigates the water with ease. They have an open-fire grill on which to cook. Blais says, 'No liquid nitrogen, so it’s like survivalist cooking' which just cracks me up. Only you, Richard. Only you."

Cliffieland on conch: "While they chik-chik-chik way at the conch, Mike shows us that he's even one-up on Richard in knowing that dropping the shell in hot water gets the conch to let go and slip out easily. Oddly, no one else seems to catch on to this."

Jordan Baker on yacht clubs: "The judges and yacht club members stroll up, all dressed in white. Also, all ACTUALLY white, which says something unsettling about the makeup of this yacht club as compared to the actual ethnic makeup of the Bahamas as a whole."

David Dust on flirting: "Did you see Padma flirting with the 'Commodore'? Someone should have informed Ms. Lakshmi that he was NOT a member of 'The Commodores' (below) and doesn't have 'Brick House' and 'Three Times A Lady' money in the bank. In the immortal words of Kanye West ... 'I ain't sayin' she a gold-digger...'"

A Just Recompense on Richard: "He interviews that he feels added pressure because he lost his season. He knows the gravity of this. Richard, honey, everyone lost. That’s the point. I think he means he was actually in the finals, and he’s the only one left who made it to the very last episode. Still, it’s a stupid comment. Why is Richard being stupid all of a sudden? Is it the tropical air?"

Don't forget to listen to the ever-entertaining Creative Loafing Top Chef Podcast!

Congratulations, Chef Mike Isabella!

Congratulations to Chef Mike Isabella for finally winning an Elimination Challenge this season! Not only did he win the Elimination in this first round of the finale, but he also won his battle against season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio in the Quickfire.



Way to go, Mike! Now it's time to show us all what you're really made of. Do you have what it takes to win this competition?

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Isabella and his dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

ATC Love to Chef Carla Hall

And disappointment is felt all around the Top Chef fandom as a clear favorite was eliminated in the first round of the finals. Chef Carla Hall brought lots of love to the show, in both her cooking and her attitude. Unfortunately, the judges weren't feeling the love this week in her pork tenderloin with apple chips and sweet potatoes. Carla once again tried a technique that she would not ordinarily have done - deep frying pork tenderloins - and again it failed her.



Chef Hall was a very strong competitor this year, winning three Elimination Challenges, and the hearts of all. I think it's probably safe to say that we all love Carla and are sad to see her go at this point in the competition.

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Hall and her dishes. If you have anything negative to say, please do so here.

Top Chef All-Stars Finale Part 1 Previews

The 5 remaining All-Stars head to the Bahamas to face-off for the ultimate shot at redemption. But what happens when some familiar faces show up to throw a curve ball for the Quickfire challenge? The 5 get a shock when they must compete against the chef’testant that won ‘Top Chef’ from their season! Then, when the chef’testants must cook for Bahamian royalty for the Elimination Challenge, will they be able to put their elevated spin on traditional flavors of the Bahamas? Find out tonight 3/9 @ 10/9c on the *Final Rounds* of BRAVO’s Top Chef All-Stars.

TC News and Information 3.8.11: Timing Is Everything Edition

The All-Stars Reunion Show was taped in NYC Friday, and much interwebular speculation has ensued over what the seating chart might reveal as to who the winner is. I'm inclined to agree with Eater, which offers a photo and compares the seating chart to reunions of seasons past. Photos that appear to have been shot during a break in taping were shared by Tom, Padma, Casey, and Marcel, and probably others, so methinks there's nothing too spoilerific going on here. But feel free to take a gander and make up your own mind.

While they were in town, auf'd All-Star Angelo Sosa had the gang over to his soon-to-open restaurant, Social Eatz, and received some plugs from his co-stars.

Meanwhile, another contingent of Top Cheftestants gathered for the Charleston BB&T Food + Wine Festival. Tiffany Derry had been scheduled to emcee a cook-off among six TC'ers, but she, Carla Hall, and Casey Thompson had to cancel when the All-Stars reunion taping was scheduled for the same day (as we passed along back in Feb). Marissa Churchill, Brian Malarkey, Ryan Scott, Ariane Duarte, and Kevin Gillespie were in attendance, and Season 1's Dave Martin took first place in the Giddy Goat Cheese cook-off. Food pics and commentary from the Charleston City Paper here (guess who wore a hat). And replacement emcee Kenny Gilbert's blogs about the event here.

Stephanie Izard, who will be cooking head-to-head with both Richard Blais and Antonia Lofaso in this week's installment of the All-Stars finale, will also be opening The Little Goat, a mere footsteps away from her Girl & The Goat in the fall. Time Out Chicago reports it will be a "diner/bar/bakery." She tells Eater Chicago it will feature such fare as "an awesome club sandwich with homemade bacon and our own roasted turkey, tasty malt milkshakes ... we'll poach our own tuna for a tuna melt . . . We're not doing a foie gras burger, but we will obviously have a goat burger. It'll be like old school diner favorites without making them all gastro foofy."

In other expansion news, Spike Mendelsohn tells Feast he plans to franchise his Good Stuff Eatery in this video interview from SOBE. And his sister and spokesperson says he plans to launch a deli-style Kosher food truck in April according to this item.

As for this week's All-Stars episode, there's been a lot of speculation that because five contestants were allowed to move forward last week, a double elimination is in store this week. I'm not so sure. As we reported previously, TV Guide mentioned in its Feb. 9 article that a four-part All-Stars finale is in store (yep, the same piece with the photo of Padma in a bikini). We know there's a reunion episode and that the All-Stars Season will be wrapped up before Top Chef Masters premieres April 6 - at 11:00/10:00c per the TCM facebook page. Which means it's likely that either the reunion show or the last installment of the finale is slated for the usual 10:00/9:00c timeslot on April 6. I've read variously that the finale and the reveal of Fan Favorite will be March 30, although these are usually on two separate dates. I, for one, would be happy to have Fan Fave announced during the reunion show rather than on Andy Cohen's Watch What Happens. So, kids, what do you think? Are they messing with our heads on the schedule? Have they just not figured it out yet? Or is there a crazier plan afoot?

TC News and Information 2.9.11 - All-Stars Finale and Reunion News!

According to TV Guide, the All-Stars finale was shot in the Bahamas. The “four-part” finale will start airing in March. Plus, Wolfgang Puck, Morimoto, Michelle Bernstein, Hubert Keller, Eric Ripert, Lidia Bastianich, Curtis Stone, Alfred Portali, Art Smith and Lorena Garcia are guest judges.

And according to this, the All-Stars reunion show will be filmed March 4.

So, do you think the finale will actually air in four separate episodes? Or will Finale Quick Fires be involved? And what does this suggest as to how many All-Stars go to the finale? Speculate away, kids!