Top Chef Winners

Obvious SPOILER for the finale here so be warned.

Has there ever been a reality show that has given the win to more giant @ssholes and people who seem completely undeserving of the title?

To me it's been since the beginning when Harold won but the list continued from there with Ilan Hall, Hosea Rosenberg (by far the worst of them all), Kevin Sbarga and now Nicholas. I mean, Nic should have fallen on the sword for his panna cotta that sent Stephanie home and making it again in his finale dinner seems like a bit of a slap in the face. And yes, I understand that every show is guilty of it (I'm looking at you Project Runway with your Gretchen and your Anya). I'll admit that sometimes I root for the villain like Marcel for instance but this show really irks me sometimes.

It seemed like they were trying to steer the win into Nina's direction when they were bringing up service and Nic's blowup by Tom really seemed to have a hard-on for him and wanted to give it to Nic from the get-go. I think since Kristen won last season they didn't want to give it to another woman.

Sorry for the rant but I needed to vent on that one.

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TC (and PR, for that matter) have often said they don't care what happens behind the scenes it's what's on the plate that matters (OK, PR didn't say anything about what's on the plate.)

I DO wish they gave her more credit for being so strong throughout the season...I really wanted her to win. (And I totally agree with your assessment of Colichio's (sp) push for him to win.

As for the other stuff: editing, editing, editing.

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I also came away from this thinking Nick is an a-hole. Nina should have taken it. She was such a graceful loser, too.

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Any reality show can be spun/edited to portray any partipant as 'the jerk'. That's not to say that Nick isn't a jerk, but we're shown carefully selected comments in response to unheard questions/prompting. That said, with all the cooking shows we watch, there seems to be an obvious prejudice favoring male contestants.

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"Any reality show can be spun/edited to portray any partipant as 'the jerk'"

Well of course. But what does Top Chef have to gain by portraying their winner, the person they admire the most as a top chef, as a jerk?

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Here's the thing...I believe Colicchio is perhaps the one TV reality show judge with integrity that I wouldn't question. Even last year, during Restaurant Wars, when I was FURIOUS that Kristin went home instead of Josie, I felt that Tom made the choice carefully and with a great deal of thought. Maybe it's because I followed his blogs, and he really expressed himself clearly about each decision. Maybe it's because I've met the man and know how much good he does regarding the issue of food insecurity in America. When I started watching Top Chef, I thought he was a big @sshole. But I came to regard him as someone who really, truly believed it was about what was on the plate in front of him.

Nina's dessert looked like...well...poo. I'm sure it tasted fine. And I'm actually terribly sad she didn't win. But it's the one show where I rarely question the head judge's decision-making process.

Well...but that's the way it's been since the beginning of Top Chef. That's the game. And as awful as it was for Stephanie to be sent home in that challenge, that is a part of the game. Nick kinda reminds me of a more douchey Dale Levitski from Season 3. He skated along, trying to find himself in the competition and the peaked at the exact right moment. Dale wasn't able to close the gap on Hung...but he came close. Here, Nick was able to overtake Nina (which I thought was obvious from the editing of the episode).

But can I just for a moment call bullSH*T on a restaurant not having an ice cream machine for the Top Chef finale??? I mean...come ON.

"Even the judges asked Nick to give up his immunity when Stephanie went home."

Actually they didn't ask him to give it up, they asked him if he felt he should give it up (big difference) and he said no, he earned it. It is after all, a competition. I didn't think he was an a$$hole, just very intense. He loaned his sushi knife to Carlos after Carlos threw him under the bus to the judges in the previous competition. He never tried to screw over his fellow chefs, he just is emotional and somewhat morose. That's not being a jerk in my book. There have been a lot worse during the 11 seasons. I personally thought Shirley was the strongest chef, stronger than Nina. But they have for years made it clear, they don't factor in the whole season in judging the finals. People may not like that, but that's how they judge. As far as Tom having the largest say, he's the Head Judge, that's part of his role and I agree with those who have said his integrity is beyond reproach. I think he would quit rather than have the producers influence him even if it's not the best television. It would have been a lot easier for him to give everyone the ending they wanted, but that's just not how it shook out.

Chef Tom did say it - Nick peaked at the right time. Like in the Olympics, peaking at the right time is what matters. While Nina may have been more consistent overall, they were being judged only by what they made at each specific challenge. Unfortunately, Nick's main course was better than Nina's in the finale and I'm sure that made a whole lot of difference.

Still, I think he was succumbing to the pressure of the competition more than being an A-hole. I would eat at Nick's restaurant. I would never want to go into Marcel's restaurant. He's just an A-hole through and through. Likewise, people like Mike Voltaggio may have seemed like an A-hole. I think he was just full of himself. There's a difference.

The backlash about Nick's immunity is totally irrelevant. How many times have we heard "If you didn't have immunity..." on EVERY competition show? My only issue is that the judges seemed to cross the line in entertaining the notion of quitting. In the end, they stuck to the rules and I would have a lot less respect for them if they hadn't. And the fact that Nick didn't take the bait was the most respect I had for him the whole season. It really shouldn't have come up at all.

Personally, I think if Nina had pulled out a banging' dessert, it would have given her the win. It did look like little poodle bombs on a plate sitting next to a small bowl of cloudy urine. Just three tiny little bites and every judge tasting it mentioned how slight and underwhelming it was. Nick's dessert wasn't very big, but it did appear far more substantial and seemed to have more components going on.

I really wanted a Nina/Shirley finale, but we're not the judges and obviously, we don't get to see everything going on. Nick may have pulled it out in the end, but as with so many other seasons, the winner is often not the most popular or well-remembered contestant of the season. Stephanie may have popularity in Chicago with her Girl and the Goat restaurant, but in end we're all going to remember Carla from that season.

I ran into Hung at an airport shortly after he won and he seemed really sweet.

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Updated On: 2/7/14 at 01:33 PM

'Stephanie may have popularity in Chicago with her Girl and the Goat restaurant, but in end we're all going to remember Carla from that season.'

That's some memory you got there, girl, since Carla was the next season! Blais was the seemingly early favorite Stephanie's season.

I don't think it was over-the-line for the judges to suggest that Nick might think about resigning. It was clear that the one who caused the team to fail (and who was the ONLY failure in that challenge on either team) was Nick. But Nick was absolutely correct that he won immunity fair and square, and I respect his decision for staying. It certainly didn't seem that he threw the competition to get rid of one of his teammates.

I agree that if Nina pulled out the dessert she wanted, she would have won. WHAT RESTAURANT DOESN'T HAVE AN ICE CREAM MACHINES STOCKED FOR THE TOP CHEF FINALE????

But, without his immunity, would Nick have made the same mistakes that caused his dishes to fail?

I vote for not offering immunity if a team challenge follows the quickfire. What's there to stop utter sabotage?

Color me embarrassed, but it sort of proves my point, anyway. Carla completely obliterated my memory of Hosea.

I haven't eaten at the restaurant, but I tried several of the Girl and the Goat Cafe lunch food and I was not a fan. Everything was either bland or a confusing mess of too many components.

In culinary circles BTW, The Girl and The Goat gets A LOT of run. It's in Pop Culture circles that Carla rules.

I guess my collective "we" was mistaken for a post on a culinary circle board, but I meant the general public. Whatever. I apologize for the confusion.

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