Tuesday, June 24, 2008

And We Have A WINNER!!!

It has been a long long while since I have last updated, due to a short trip across the Atlantic... to PARIS! followed by some plain old unproductive summer boredom. Sorry! Anyways, here is an old post that followed the Top Chef, season 4 finale, finally finished and posted for your reading pleasure.

For those of you who might have missed last night's Top Chef Finale, we have a winner. And that winner is a woman! The first female top chef ever! Stephanie clinched the win. And I do believe I predicted that during the first five minutes of the season.

Now for a recap of the actual competition. Back in Puerto Rico, the competition was down to only Richard, Stephanie, and Lisa, who unfortunately beat out Antonia for a seat in the finals. The challenge was to create a four course meal for the judges and guests, consisting of fish, poultry, red meat and dessert. It has become obvious this season that dessert making skills are a must for Top Chefs. Even in the first episode we saw that a Top Chef must know how to bake a souffle just as well as they know how to perfectly cook a Tomahawk steak. Each cheftestant was also paired with a big name chef who was to serve as the sous chef: Stephanie with Eric Ripert, Richard with Dan Barber, and Lisa with April Bloomfield.

Time spent cooking in the kitchen, very little drama involved, until the second day when, alas, all three sous chefs are absent. The cheftestants had to swim on their own this time. Some more cooking followed. And then it was time.... time for a throwdown! Just kidding. Wrong show.

So as the judges and guests waited anxiously for their meal, the beginning of the end... began. The first course was fish, followed by poultry, red meat, and dessert. Richard, who also stood a strong chance at winning, did not do as well as anticipated, even admitting at the end that he had 'choked'. He might not have done his best, but I don't think he did that badly.

Anyways, both Stephanie and Lisa put out some good dishes. And Lisa would go on to point this out in her typical awkward and insulting attitude later in the episode. But that's a different story...

After much deliberation and a shocking lack of real drama, it was time for a decision. In the end, Stephanie's dishes took the cake (pun intended). Seriously, all of her dishes, except for the ricotta pound cake, which Eric Ripert called 'unrefined', were apparently delicious, and at the very least, looked amazing. They were particularly impressed by her lamb medallions with mushroom, olives, and braised pistachios.
Um.... yum. enough said.

So, with all this and the entire season under her belt, Stephanie Izard became the fourth season's Top Chef, and the first female Top Chef! That's it, no more Top Chef, for a few more months. Farewell to a great season, and sorry for the way over-due update!

And by the way, I totally called that Stephanie would win in the first 5 minutes of the season. Just saying...

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