Top Chef D.C.: Baby Food Quickfire Hilton Hotel Double Elimination

You are looking at last week's Elimination Challenge winner, Arnold Myint and cooking teacher, Lynne Gigliotti. This week both were told to pack their knives and go.

This was a different sort of Top Chef episode. It confused me.

It started with a baby food Quickfire Challenge where the chefs had to make something that pleased Baby Daddy Tom Colicchio and new Baby Mama Padma Lakshmi as adult type food, and also have a baby pureed version that makes baby happy.

It was a high stakes Quickfire, with 2 winners, with Tom and Padma each picking one. With the winners getting no immunity. Instead getting $10,000. I don't remember who won. I do remember Alex Rezink saying if he won he'd spend the money on a hooker and an eight ball.

I understood the hooker part.

For the Elimination Challenge the chefs had to pair up, as in get someone to agree to co-cook with you. And then prepare a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu for Hilton Hotels, something healthy, easy to prepare, easy to transport. And tasty.

Now, here is where it gets weird. First up is breakfast. If you are the judges' favorites you are safe from elimination. If not, you continue on to cook lunch.

In addition to the regular judges we had returned cheftestants like the older Voltaggio brother, Bryan and that annoying Mike Isabella guy. Plus the sometimes amusing Spike from a previous season.

So, some were safe, the rest moved on to cook lunch. After lunch it was down to three pairs. Arnold and Lynne, Kevin and Kenny, plus Kelly and Andrea.

Dinner gets served. The judges eat. After that is where it got weird.

Now, did I miss something or was it not true that the worst chefs ended up cooking dinner? With the good chefs made safe from elimination?

So, Padma called the three dinner cooking pairs to the Judges' Table. A little discussion and then it's announced that Kelly Liken and Andrea Curto-Randazzo win.

Huh? What about all those who successfully cooked breakfast and lunch?

And then it got even weirder. Kelly and Andrea won very nice vacations for two. One to Italy, the other to Spain. Or was it Portugal?

Then after more discussion it was decided that Arnold and Lynne were the ones who needed to go.

Lynne was a first rate ass. Hard to believe she can go back to teaching chefs now. She was totally arrogant about her noodle cooking, Arnold wanted to get them boiling. Lynne insisted she was the world's noodle expert. In the end it was her undercooked noodles that did them in.

Or so it seemed.

Am I the only viewer perplexed by how a winner was picked on this episode?

Top Chef Las Vegas: Michael Voltaggio's Top Chef

I didn't get around to watching the finale of Top Chef til today. I was fairly certain the younger Voltaggio brother won because I saw "Michael Voltaggio" as a top Google search string this morning, with no mention of brother Bryan or Kevin.

All in all, it was a satisfying conclusion, unlike the last season of Top Chef with the bizarre end having Hosea being named Top Chef.

There was no Quickfire Challenge. Early on we saw all the chefs who had been set packing their knives, arrive. Then one by one the three remaining picked a knife. The knife had the name of one of the chefs. Kevin had the bad luck to get Preeti Mistry and slightly better luck getting Ash. Bryan had the good luck to draw Jennifer and Ashley. Michael got Eli and a chef I've already forgotten, I think it may have been Jesse, who is now a blonde.

Kevin was a bit unsettled by how little use Preeti was to him. He was way off his usual game. In the end he got sent packing first.

I forgot to mention, Kevin and Bryan and Michael's moms showed up. Seeing them with their mom made Bryan and Michael seem more human. When the chefs arrived at the kitchen, Tom Colicchio informed then they had to prepare a 4th course, one inspired by their moms.

The moms got to sit in with the judges for the first course, that being the ones they inspired. That was all sort of charming. Particularly when the boys walked out to see their moms sitting there.

In the end, at Judges' Table, each of the 3 drew some criticism and some praise. Kevin seemed to take the worst beating, so it was not too big a shock when he was told he was not Top Chef. I sort of thought he was doomed when he added bacon to his dessert. That did not sound good to me.

As they waited their fate the brothers stood as if they were waiting for a firing squad to pull the trigger. Eventually Padma told Michael he was Top Chef. The brothers hugged for a long time. Then mom came out, hugged Michael for a long time. Michael was in tears. This made Michael the most likable he's been. Michael then said something like "See Padma, you got what you wanted from me. Emotion." Michael actually displayed a pretty funny sense of humor on many occasions. In the end, when each was asked why they should be Top Chef, Michael said, "Because I don't want Bryan to win." Everyone cracked up. Including Bryan.

Anyway, this was the best Reality TV conclusion that I've seen in quite some time.

Top Chef Season 6 Finale Part 1: Jennifer Packs Her Knives & Goes

So, it'll be the Voltaggio brothers, Bryan and Michael and Kevin Gillespie cooking in the Top Chef finale. One of Jennifer Carroll's Elimination Challenge dishes was too salty for the judges' taste and thus the pack your knives order.

Micheal won a latest edition Toyota Prius by winning the Quickfire Challenge of cooking some grape concoction in the onboard kitchen on the Napa Valley Train.

Kevin gets motion sickness, so the cooking on a train was not good for him.

Before the chefs got on the train, it had to arrive, while they sat waiting at the station. When the train choo-chooed in, off came Napa Valley Top Chef Masters finalist, Michael Chiarello and a pregnant Padma.

Jennifer remarked something like Padma is one hot pregnant lady, while Kevin commented on Padma's baby bump.

I am a little confused about the amount of time that lapsed between when we were in Las Vegas and now in the Napa Valley. Some reference was made to it being 6 weeks. Kevin made a comment about his beard now having its own Facebook page. So, does this mean the chefs went home and were able to watch themselves on Top Chef? It seemed like they were in Vegas in summer. The Napa Valley episodes take place during a fall Napa Valley festival called "The Crush."

Anyway, for the Elimination Challenge the chefs had to each cook a protein and a vegetarian dish for the aforementioned Crush Festival. In the end, Bryan won. He didn't get anything though, like a car, like his brother did.

Next week I'm guessing Kevin wins Top Chef. Or maybe Bryan. I suppose it could be Michael.