Top Chef All Stars: Richard Blais is Top Chef

I liked the change to the Top Chef finale format, having it between two instead of three.

I thought Wednesday night's Top Chef finale was the best in Top Chef history.

The judges judged that the food coming from the Richard Blais kitchen and the Mike Isabella kitchen was the best in Top Chef history.

I liked how all the Top Chef's from the All Star season were brought to the Bahamas for the finale.

The Quickfire where the returned chefs had to make an amuse bouche, with Isabella and Blais then picking their 3 favorites, with the makers of those favorites being their sous chefs for the final Elimination Challenge, was a clever way to pick the sous chefs.

When Isabella and Blais discussed who they did not want helping, Isabella said he did not want Jamie. So, of course Isabella picked Jamie's amuse bouche.

But that worked out fine. In the end, Isabella was happy with Jamie's help.

Isabella's other sous chefs were Carla and Tiffini, while Blais got Spike, Angelo and Antonia.

The finale challenge was sort of like Restaurant Wars on steroids. Mike and Richard had an hour to prepare a menu and 5 hours to cook. And they also had to make the restaurant of their dreams.

The Richard Blais restaurant was named "Tongue in Cheek," while Isabella's was something like "Iz's."

All the judges were impressed with all the food. Making it very hard to pick a winner.

In the end they picked Richard Blais to be Top Chef.

All the other chefs got to watch the final judgment, along with Mike Isabella's wife and mother. Richard's wife was about to have a baby, so an uncle was his relative in the room.

When they were in the Stew Room, Richard told Mike that if he won the $200,000 he'd give Mike money so he could start his restaurant too.

I doubt either of these two will have a problem getting financing for a restaurant. Richard already has a company called TrailBlais and a modern hamburger joint called "Flip."

Starting last December Richard has been hosting a show on The Science Channel called Blais Off, in which he uses his scientific cooking methods to re-invent classic foods.

I was sort of surprised to learn that Mike Isabella had a wife and had reproduced. You could sort of tell he may have gotten his good looks from his mother.

I've yet to watch the Watch What Happens Live show to see who won fan favorite. My guess is Antonia. Or Carla.

Is the Top Chef All Stars Winner Richard Blais or Mike Isabella?

Tonight is the Top Chef All Stars finale, I think, where we learn if it is Richard Blais or Mike Isabella who wins Top Chef All Stars.

I'm okay with either winning. Yes, Mike Isabella has an annoying personality. But, the more exposure I got to that annoying personality, the less I found him annoying.

I was disappointed that Antonia lost the one bite challenge against her new found Isabella cousin and that it was not she, rather than Isabella who was in the final two with Blais.

One thing about Mike Isabella that you can not deny. He has improved on his cooking from when we first met him. And he came prepared to cook Caribbean food in the Bahamas.

I've seldom seen a guy who is so hard on himself as Richard Blais. He is so good at cooking you'd think he'd be real confident about it. Maybe it's the constant self-doubting that makes him so good.

There was a little buzz on the Internet that former Top Chef winner, Hosea, was going to be real happy if Mike Isabella wins, because, supposedly, this would have Isabella replacing Hosea as the most undeserving winner.

Methinks not.

Earlier in the Top Chef All Stars season, when there was speculation that Mike  Isabella wins, I opined that this would be a travesty worse that when that awful Mike "Boogie" Malin person, who was definitely not a Big Brother All Star, won Big Brother All Stars. This was an absurdity so offputting that I've never watched another episode of Big Brother.

That will not be my reaction if Mike Isabella wins Top Chef All Stars tonight. But, I hope Richard Blais wins.

Top Chef All Stars: Tiffany Derry Pack Her Knives & Goes While Mike Isabella Wins 3rd Elimination Challenge in a Row

The highlight for Top Chef's Episode 14: Island Fever, for Mike Isabella, in addition to winning his 3rd Elimination Challenge in a row, was walking onto a dock to find himself greeted by Padma in a bikini.

Padma in a bikini came after the Quickfire Challenge.

The guest judge this week was a Latin chef named Lorena Garcia, who apparently is about to host a new NBC show called America's Next Great Restaurant.

For the Quickfire the boys cooked against the girls. The two teams had one hour to make 100 plates with a perfectly consistent dish on each plate. With Padma and Lorena judging who did best.

Of course, the consistently insufferable Isabella was quite dismissive of the inferior simplistic dish the girls churned out, while his was pure daring with his handmade noodles.

But, Padma and Lorena gave the girls the win, which thoroughly annoyed Mike and Richard Blais.

Tiffany and Antonia shared  $5,000 for their win.

The next morning was when Padma greeted the four remaining chefs in a bikini. The four hopped aboard a boat to be floated to an island where they were to make a celebration dinner for the Nassau Yacht Club's 80th year in business.

The chefs were told the meal had to include the Bahama staple.

Conch.

Arriving on the island the chefs found their supply of food to work with. But no conch. And then realized they were expected to go snorkeling for the conch.

As the chefs were gearing up for snorkeling, we cut to a Richard Blais confessional where he said something like, "I don't think anyone wants to see Isabella topless. I know I don't."

Then we cut to Isabella topless.

Blais was right. But I also would have included him among those I really did not want to see topless.

I was a little surprised that the conch were so easy to find. I suspect the seabed had been salted by Top Chef producers with an ample supply of the shellfish. Or are they really that prolific in such a populated area?

The cooking conditions were very primitive. Wood fires for heat, grills to cook on. No electricity, few tools. Lots of sand.

But, there were hammer-like pick tools to whack at the conch shells. That was unpleasant to watch. Why did they not notice Mike Isabella's sticking the conch in hot water to get the meat out method?

After much angst the three hours of cooking was over with the arrival of the Yacht Club's Commodore and his crew, plus Padma, Tom, Gail and Lorena.

The non-judges seemed to like everything. The judges found something wrong with all the chef's dishes.

With Tiffany having the biggest wrong with her chowder that had chilled to cold from its intended hot.

Mike won for his conch wrapped in a banana leaf, along with other stuff stuffed in that leaf. I thought for sure he was a goner due to having added butter to the mix, with Lorena saying she did not like how greasy the butter made the dish, and with Tom also making a fuss about the butter being all wrong.

But, for some reason, unfathomable to me, they gave the Insufferable Isabella the win, which of course will make him even more insufferable.

It will be sort of amusing if Isabella wins Top Chef All Stars. The backlash from viewers will be a fun spectacle to watch, if that happens.

Top Chef All-Stars: No Final Four--All Five Remaining in Finals in the Bahamas

This week's episode of Top Chef was my favorite Top Chef episode ever.

It started with the five remaining chefs, Antonia Lofaso, Mike Isabella, Carla Hall, Richard Blais and Tiffany Derry being surprised to have Padma show up in their loft.

Padma directed the chefs to the roof where she pointed out Ellis Island and told them she'd be meeting them there.

Onboard the ferry to Ellis Island the chefs discover a note telling them that when the boat whistle blows they have til it blows again to make a dish from the limited supplies in the boat's pantry.

The whistle blew and much mayhem ensued as the chefs tried to make something tasty out of items like tortilla chips, hot dogs, cheese, buns and oranges.

In the end, when the whistle blew after docking on Ellis Island, Padma and guest judge, Dan Barber, came onboard to taste the food. After tasting it, it was decided that Carla's orange concoction tasted best.

Then it was on to the Elimination Challenge.

The chefs were told that a famous genealogist had been researching their family histories. And that some special people were arriving to help the chefs sort it out.

At that Antonia's mom, Mike's mom, Carla's husband, Richard's wife and Tiffany's mom walked in.

With their family member the chef's went through the info trying to figure out their heritage and what food to cook to honor that heritage.

It was around this point that the impossible happened. Mike Isabella began to turn likable. He'd not seen his mom for 6 months. We heard the story of Mike's Italian grandma teaching him to cook. And how ever since she died he could never bring himself to cook Italian dishes that she had taught him. Which was the dish he decided to cook for the challenge.

And then Antonia, looking through her history, made the shocking discovery that her arch nemesis, and she, were cousins. With that nemesis being Mike Isabella. It was darn charming watching Antonia and Mike's relationship change after they learned they were cousins. With Mike now rooting for his new cousin to make it to the finals.

Then it was off to Whole Foods to shop. Then 3 hours to cook.

The family members joined Padma, Tom, Gail and Dan Barber for the feeding.

As the dishes rolled out, one by one, nary a negative word was spoken. Tom and Gail and Padma asked questions of the relatives about the chefs. From that we learned Carla met her husband on Match.com.

After all the chefs had rolled out their food, and Tom remarked that it was all good, wondering how they could make the choice of a winner and who to send home, I think it was Antonia's mom who suggested sending all 5 to the finals.

Back in the Stew Room the chefs waited their fate. Padma summoned them all. Each talked about their inspiration. Again Mike Isabella was likable. None of that blowhard blustering he usually does. There may have been tears.

After some discussion Antonia got the win and the guaranteed spot in the Final 4. And a brand new 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Then Mike was told he was in and he could head to the Stew Room. Arriving there the two new cousins celebrated.

Richard was getting nervous. And might I add, his wife is very good-looking and was 5 months along with their 2nd kid. Padma then said to the very nervous Richard, "Please pack your knives." Long pause. "And take them to the Bahamas. You're in. You can return to the Stew Room." Richard looked as if he was about to explode and then he turned very relieved.

Go to break. After the commercials, Padma says Carla's name. Long wait, waiting for the pack your knives and go home message. Then Padma says Tiffany's name. Another long wait. And then, "You're both going to the Bahamas!"

Tom said they could not come to a decision because everyone had done so well.

I love it when I watch a Reality TV Show and I find myself changing my mind about someone. Previously I thought it would be travesty if Mike Isabella went to the finals after chefs like Angelo and Dale were sent packing. And I thought if Isabella turned out to be the winner of Top Chef All-Stars that this would be a bigger joke than when the repugnant non-All-Star, Mike "Boogie" Malin, won Big Brother All-Stars.

Now, I'm okay if Mike Isabella wins. It won't be a travesty. But, I want Carla or Antonia to win. I like both a lot.

Top Chef All Stars: Marcel Vigneron Packs His Knives & Goes After Restaurant Wars Disaster

I have no idea why Marcel is on a beach with Padma.

The latest episode of Top Chef All Stars started off with Dale winning a strange Quickfire Challenge. The Chefs had to slice up 2 fish to frying portions, approved by a master fish slicer, Justo Thomas of the famed Le Bernardin.

The top 4 slicers then had to cook a dish using the remains of the fish they had just gutted. Dale Talde used the liver in the dish he made, which seemed to be what gave him the win.

Then it was off to Padma who informed them that the Chefs were about to fight in Restaurant Wars. As part of his Quickfire win Dale got to lead one restaurant and pick the other restaurant's leader.

Dale wisely picked Marcel to lead the other restaurant, obviously figuring that Marcel would self-destruct. Which is what happened.

Marcel has zero leader skills. He is good at pissing people off.

The restaurants had to be something called a "Pop-Up" Restaurant, that I really did not understand. The guest judge was a volatile Frenchy who we saw be volatile on Top Chef Masters,  Ludo LeFebvre, who, apparently has a successful "Pop-Up" Restaurant.

Dale's restaurant was called Bodega. Marcel's was Etch.

The guests did the judging in this Restaurant Wars.

As the restaurants opened and Etch spun out of control, it was fairly clear that Bodega was a smoother operation, with Fabio running the front like a master, while Tiffany was Etch's greeter and a disaster at it.

Back at Judges' Table Padma called Etch first to the table, giving them some hope they'd actually won. This hope was quickly dashed. Meanwhile back in the Stew Room, Richard Blais was sure Bodega had lost.

At first the losers were reticent to point fingers. Then Marcel said yet one more dumb Marcel thing, which set off everyone, but Angelo, pointing at Marcel as the cause of their epic fail.

In the end, Richard Blais won Restaurant Wars and $10,000, while Marcel Vigneron was sent packing.

In his Bravo Top Chef Blog, Anthony Bourdain is amusing, as always, in his blogging about Restaurant Wars he is particularly amusing about what it must be like to live in "Marcel Land."