Top Chef TV Show - Season 6 Finale Part 2 - Top Chef Recaps, Top Chef Reviews, Top Chef Episodes

Top Chef

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Kim: A | 1229 USERS: B-

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High Voltage

By Kim | Season 6 | Episode 15 | Aired on 2009.12.09

In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description!

Because it's the finals, there's no Quickfire. So the Elimination Challenge is that they have to cook a three-course meal. For the first course, they will each be given a box with identical ingredients. The second course can be whatever they want. The third course has to be a dessert. They'll be serving some of the finest chefs in the country.

And, of course, they draw knives to choose two people from their former competitors to help out as sous chefs, one to help the night before, and one to help the day of service. Kevin gets Preeti (night before) and Ash (day of). Bryan gets Ashley (night before) and Jen (day of). Michael gets Jesse (night before) and Eli (day of). Kevin got screwed, and he knows it. I think Bryan fared best.

First night prep goes great for Bryan and not so great for Kevin, while Michael still isn't sure what he's going to make for his first course. The twist of the finale is that they get a visit from their mothers, and then Colicchio informs them that they now have an added (now first) course, which needs to be inspired by their mothers and their favorite childhood foods. So here's what they made:

Bryan:

First course: "tuna noodle casserole," which is sardine, german butterball potato, heirloom tomato, shaved fennel, and Panko bread crumbs

Second course: sous vide rockfish, kabocha squash with curry and Meyer lemon

Third course: venison saddle, puree of sunchoke and orange-juniper sauce

Fourth course: sheep's milk and white chocolate "dulce de leche" cheesecake, dry caramel, fig sorbet and poached pear

Michael:

First course: "broccoli reinvented" which is cream of dehydrated broccoli, spot prawn, and fried broccoli

Second course: dashi-glazed rockfish, sweet & sour crab salad with squash and Meyer lemon

Third course: fennel-scented squab, pistachio cassoulet and textures of mushrooms

Fourth course: chocolate caramel coulant, butternut squash brulée and butternut ice cream with candied pumpkin seeds

Kevin:

First course: "Chicken & Fixings" which is fried chicken skin, tomatoes, and liquid squash casserole

Second course: rockfish in duck fat, roasted squash, roasted matsutake, crab broth

Third course: slow-cooked pork belly, roasted broccoli and Brussels sprouts, and caramelized ham jus

Fourth course: roasted banana, toasted peanut with chocolate bacon mousse, and bacon brittle

Service: The moms join them for the first course only. Everyone likes Kevin's dish, but they think Bryan's is underseasoned and Michael's prawns might be undercooked. In the second course, they liked the flavors of Kevin's dish, but he didn't do well with his mushroom. Bryan's food is once again underseasoned and blandly plated, and Michael's dish was greatly balanced and cooked perfectly.

With the third course, Bryan finally shines with his cooking and seasoning. Michael's food is well-cooked but seems gimmicky. Kevin's food is good but the judges seem underwhelmed. And in the final course, the judges aren't impressed with Kevin's heavy use of pork. Michael's cake is dry, and Bryan's dish impressed the judges again.

Judges' Table: They like Bryan's sophistication and restraint, Michael's daring and boldness, and the fact that Kevin stayed true to himself throughout. Kevin had a bad night and is the first eliminated. And then Padma announces that Michael is the new Top Chef.

Want more? The full recap starts right below!

It's morning in Napa, and the final three are getting ready for the day. Kevin interviews how excited he is to be one of the finalists. He's won five eliminations, the most of everyone, but he thinks Bryan has great technique, and Michael is incredibly creative, so it's anyone's game. As they eat breakfast, they wonder what Jen is doing right now, and Michael suggests that she's detoxing. Then Michael jokes that he wishes it were Bryan who went home. It sounds mean, but it actually comes off as kind of charming in a teasing your sibling kind of way. I think I would have liked Michael a lot more this season if they had shown him mocking Bryan more often. Bryan says he just wants to have fun in this last challenge. Good luck with that. As they walk out the door, Michael jokes with Kevin that he won't need his knives and Kevin says he's going to karate chop everything to pieces. See? Joking around! Michael! Who knew?

The cheftestants join Padma and Tom in front of a vineyard. Tom explains that they'll be cooking a three-course meal for the finals. For the first course, they will each get a box with the same ingredients, and will have to use everything in the box in that dish. The second course is totally their choice, and the third course must be a dessert. I guess Hosea winning with his all meat, all the time meal last season annoyed someone. I note that Padma has perfected the pregnant lady stance, with hands clasped below your bump, so that you look pregnant and not just fat. Padma and Tom add that they'll be serving to some of the most important people in the food industry, and that this meal could make their careers if they impress the right people.

And of course, they'll have help. Kevin looks all confused about who might possibly be coming out from behind the grapevines, but anyone who has watched this show before knows it's going to be the previously eliminated cheftestants, led by Jen carrying the dreaded knife block. There are people I forgot existed. Preeti? Eve? Padma says that they have to draw knives to find out who will be their two sous chefs. This is total horseshit, unless they were going to limit the pool to the last six eliminated. Isn't the point of the finals to see who is the best chef, period? I don't have a huge problem with some of the weird twists they do throughout the season, but I like the finale to be just flat-out cooking, which is why the Masters finale was so satisfying. Anyway, they draw knives. Kevin gets Preeti and Ash. Bryan gets Jen and Ashley. Michael gets Jesse and Eli. Okay, so Kevin got two people who were kind of known for their lack of technique, and it seems like good technique is what you really need in a sous chef. You want someone that you can tell, "Make a béarnaise sauce and steam the clams" and they'll know exactly what you mean without a lot of hand-holding. I think the others got exactly that, and Kevin didn't. I don't know that it affects the final outcome, but I will say that Kevin is clearly bummed out and discouraged from the word jump. Once the knives have been drawn, Tom says that the final three have won twelve out of the thirteen challenges, so great food is expected. That's super impressive. Obviously the right three are in the finals.