Top Chef Las Vegas: Kevin Wins Culinary Olympics

Kevin Gillespie won the final Elimination Challenge and $30K on this week's Top Chef. I think he won more challenges than any other chef. I like Kevin. Seems like a real nice guy who can cook well. But, please, lose that awful beard. Or wear a beard net.

Jennifer got her confidence back by winning the Quickfire. A chef I'd never heard of had them making a dish I'd never heard of, something to do with a protein in a protein in a protein.

Then for the Elimination Challenge the 5 remaining chefs had to cook in a competition modeled after another thing I'd never heard of, the Bocuse d'Or. Apparently the Olympics of the culinary world.

The chefs were very exciting and knew all about the Food Olympics and the chefs who would be judging them. All apparently very famous. I am apparently very ignorant about the culinary world.

Jennifer got an extra half hour to cook due to winning the Quickfire. She helped Bryan out when he got a bit overwhelmed by the complexity of what he was putting on his platter. Bryan came off more likable this episode. Laughing, acting funny and wearing a baseball cap backwards. And answering Kevin's questions about how to cook lamb.

The judges had problems with everyone's food platter. But the least problems with Kevin's, even though they seemed to think what he cooked was too easy and safe. The other chefs had issues like lamb being undercooked, or, in Michael Voltaggio's case, a fish bone left in his salmon, which apparently would get you the instant boot at the Food Olympics.

It seemed like they were disliking what Michael did the most, but it was Eli who was sent home for badly cooked fatty lamb.

But, even though the judges and famous chefs were highly critical, they also heaped praise on the 5 for managing to do what they did in such a short time. It was all very positive and Eli took it real well. In the end, even Eli turned likable.

Michael V., not so much. It keeps burning Michael that Kevin keeps winning for cooking simple things that Michael says he cooks on his day off.

The previews for the finale on a train going through the California wine country looked interesting. It appears everyone had some time off, because everyone has different hair. Tom is still bald, but Padma's has long bangs, Jennifer all curly, the Voltaggio's appeared to be a new color and Kevin looked less shaggy, but still with that awful beard. I want to get a look at his wife.