‘Top Chef’ Boston Ep. 15 Recap: ‘Mano a Mano’
Top Chef: Bostonpremiered on October 15, 2014 with 16 contestants.
Even though it was just a few months ago, looking back it seems like such a simpler time. After a long, yawn-inducing campaign, we were close to choosing a new governor. There wasn’t any snow on the ground. The MBTA was functioning at a relatively adequate level. And the Patriots were 4-2 and just beginning to turn their season around after a horrific loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. My, how all these things changed.
Flash forward to February 11, 2015, and the Top Chef: Boston cast has been winnowed down to two chefs: Mei and Gregory. Even though I think this season has been pretty disappointing, it was fun to see Top Chef visit Boston and finally give our city some of the culinary credit it deserves. It’s been an honor to recap each and every episode for Boston.com readers, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading them as much as I’ve enjoyed writing them. But all good things must come to an end, and this week marked the third and last episode of the three-part finale. But before we get to that, here are some superlatives I’ve put together to wrap a nice, tidy bow on this season. If you have your own superlatives, please share them below in the comment section, and I will share some of the best picks on Twitter this week.
Top Chef: Boston Superlatives
Most Likeable Contestant: Katsuji
How can you not vote for someone who has subtitles used for him in the first episode even though he spoke English? Katsuji seemed to be most popular cast member this season, even though he never stopped talking and seemed to use dozens of ingredients for each dish. He’s also a great follow on Twitter and Instagram.
Least Likeable Contestant: Aaron
He walked onto the show with a Cape Cod-sized chip on his shoulder and started fights whenever he could. He was also arrested on domestic violence charges in November. Other than sitting on the sidelines during Last Chance Kitchen, he hasn’t been seen since.
Best Episode: Episode 3, “Course of the Bambino’’
Of all the Boston locations featured this season, it didn’t get any better than seeing gourmet food served to the judges in the shadow of the Green Monster. I was also lucky enough to screen this episode at Fenway Park alongside Hugh Acheson, Jasper White, Michael Schlow, Tiffani Faison, and others. That was a treat.
Worst Episode: Episode 11, “Sous Your Daddy’’
This episode didn’t even have a Quickfire Challenge, and I was also completely bored by the Elimination Challenge. Although it began with the chefs out on the water with the Island Creek Oysters team, the rest of the episode was a snoozefest. I didn’t think the visiting family members added much to the episode, and I also don’t like family members having an effect on the outcome. Bo-ring.
Best Quickfire Challenge: Gronk’s Sausage
This was easy to choose. In Episode 9, Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski visited the Top Chef kitchen and asked the contestants to make him a sausage dish. In addition to all the inevitable sausage puns and double-entendres, there was also plenty of flirting between Padma and Gronk. It’s not outrageous to say that Gronk’s appearance on the show was what propelled the Patriots to their Super Bowl win.
Best Elimination Challenge: Restaurant Wars
Despite a marked lack of drama — at least compared to past seasons — Restaurant Wars is always the most entertaining Elimination Challenge of the season. It’s the most interesting challenge because, in addition to preparing all the food, the contestants also need to think about menu design, decorations, and front-of-the-house service. The concept is so entertaining that Bravo’s new show Best New Restaurant is essentially a new Restaurant Wars every week. Not surprisingly, it is also hosted by Tom Colicchio.
Contestant I Underestimated: Melissa
I had her at or near the bottom of my power rankings all season, but she kept advancing and caught fire toward the end of the season. She found her groove at the right time and became a serious threat to win it all until she was eliminated two weeks ago.
Contestant I Wish Lasted Longer: Stacy
The lone local contestant, she never found her stride and was eliminated in Week 6 during the Thanksgiving episode. Formerly the executive chef at the Regal Beagle in Brookline, she has since moved on to the kitchen at Liquid Art House in the Back Bay.
Finale Preview
I introduced the Ratty Power Index (RPI) in Week 6 to track the progress of the contestants. Back then there will still nine contestants alive, and now we’re down to two. Here’s the final (and short) Ratty Power Index:
1. Mei: Had a rare underwhelming performance last week, but she’s still my pick to win
2. Gregory: I can only pick one winner, sorry Gregory!
Let’s also take a closer look at the two finalists:
Background
Mei Lin: Sous Chef at Michael Voltaggio’s ink in Los Angeles
Gregory Gourdet: Executive Chef at Departure in Portland, Oregon
Quickfire Wins
Mei: 1
Gregory: 5
Elimination Challenge Wins
Mei: 3
Gregory: 5
Scouting Report
If you’re lucky as a Top Chef viewer, the two best chefs are the two left standing at the end, and that’s definitely the case this season. At various times over the course of the season, I’ve had either Mei or Gregory as the frontrunner for the whole contest. It’s only fitting that these are the two contestants duking it out for the championship. Each chef had their ups and downs and their off-weeks, but I never really feared that either was ever going to be eliminated.
Gregory would probably admit that he hasn’t taken many chances this year. The knock on him, some would say, is that he is always cooking an Asian-inspired dish — usually a stew — with coconut milk or Thai spices. Mei’s hallmark all season has been her consistency and her precise technique. Although she wasn’t always creating the most inventive dishes, her execution was usually near-perfect, and she never got too high or too low. She knows what she wants right away in a challenge, and she follows through with it. In terms of natural talent, she has been peerless this season. Her demeanor is stoic, and she has no patience for mistakes. She is a machine.
When you look at the statistics above, it’s especially fitting that these two are facing each other in the finale. They both racked up several Elimination Challenge wins, with Gregory also tallying an impressive four wins in the Quickfire Challenge. Even though the Quickfire wins don’t always guarantee immunity, they prove he was also one of the chefs to beat all season. Most surprisingly, Mei didn’t win her first Quickfire until Week 12, but that just shows she was able to consistently bounce back for the Elimination Challenge after someone else took the Quickfire. It’s worth noting that she also won the very first Elimination Challenge.
Elimination Challenge
For all the build-up to it, the Top Chef finale is usually strikingly straight-forward. There is no Quickfire, no immunity, no advantages to be won. The chefs are simply asked to cook the best meal of their lives. While earlier episodes feature plenty of curveballs, the show doesn’t throw any surprises at the chefs in the finale. The judges want to see what the finalists will cook with $125,000 and the title of Top Chef on the line. Winning this show means your life will likely never be the same, so the fact that all this comes down to one meal is enough drama on its own.
The only surprise in this episode was at the very beginning when Mei and Gregory were woken up in the middle of the night and driven out to the middle of nowhere. Much to Mei’s dread (“We might die today’’) and Gregory’s delight, a hot air balloon was waiting to take them on an aerial tour of San Miguel de Allende. (For the moment, we’ll set aside the logic of getting on a hot air balloon in Mexico right before the biggest day of their lives.) While up in the air, the two chefs waxed poetic about making the finals and what it would mean for them to win. For Gregory, it would cap an incredible comeback story after battling addiction for years and getting sober. For Mei, it would mean professional validation after going against her parents’ career wishes for her.
As the hot air balloon descended, the chefs spotted Tom and Padma on in a vineyard and landed to receive their instructions for the challenge. The chefs were asked to create the four-course meal of their lives in two of the area’s most famous restaurants. With the help of two sous chefs each, they would have one hour to shop and source ingredients, then five hours the next day to prep and cook their meals. Joining the panel for the dinner would be guest judges and Top Chef veterans Gail Simmons, Hugh Acheson, and Richard Blais, as well as acclaimed chefs Traci Des Jardins, Sean Brock, Michael Cimarusti, Gavin Kaysen, and Donnie Masterton.
After the previously eliminated contestants were trotted out one last time (still no sign of Aaron), the chefs made their picks. Gregory took George and Doug, while Mei chose Melissa and Rebecca. While Gregory’s picks didn’t raise any eyebrows, Mei’s did. Melissa is of course Mei’s best friend on the show and a kindred spirit, but the choice of Rebecca was a bit surprising at first. Rebecca, in case you forgot, was eliminated from the show in Episode 4. Since then, she has only been seen during segments of Last Chance Kitchen. Mei was quick to explain, though, that the choice was strategic. Rebecca has a degree in pastry from the Culinary Institute of America, and that knowledge would come in handy because Mei planned on doing a sweet course to close out her meal.
After they shopped and were back at the house, the two finalists discussed their plans and sized each other up. It was pretty clear right away that they were going in very different directions. Gregory, who up until this point almost exclusively focused on Asian flavors, was going to use all local Mexican flavors and ingredients in all of his courses. Mei’s dishes would reflect both the local influences and her training from back home. Mei seemed shocked that Gregory was going in such a different direction and seemed to intimate that he was making a mistake.
Here are some of the things I was looking at heading into the final dinner service:
-Both Mei and Gregory would be cooking octopus for the first course. Since the judges would likely be keeping score between the chefs on each dish, this would make it pretty easy to decide a winner.
–George, who was eliminated for over-charring octopus in Episode 12, would be making the octopus for Gregory’s first course.
-I was very interested to see what Mei did with the congee. It was the very first dish she cooked this season, but this time she would be making it with Mexican ingredients. Would the judges compare the two?
–Gregory’s plan to make a mole raised some eyebrows in our living room, mostly because of Rick Bayless. Seasoned Top Chef viewers will recall that, in the finals of Top ChefMasters Season 1, Bayless made a Oaxacan mole with 20-something flavor profiles that all needed to be perfect. He blew the judges away and won the title. My wife and I still talk about it to this day. It’s probably the greatest thing I have ever seen made on a cooking show. So, basically, if you’re going to do a mole on Top Chef, you better come correct.
–Mei said that a lot of her feedback this season is that her flavors are “subtle’’ and “clean.’’ Would she be able to properly harness the local ingredients in order to produce big, bold flavors for the judges?
-It looked like the difference maker could be the fourth and final course. Mei planned to do a dessert, while Gregory was going with four savory dishes. If Mei was going to separate herself out like this, she was going to have to nail the dessert. I didn’t expect anyone to criticize Gregory for not doing a dessert, but Mei would most certainly hear about it if her sweet course wasn’t up to snuff. Going in her favor was the fact that, during the break before the finale, she worked the pastry station at one of Bryan Voltaggio’s restaurants.
Back in their respective kitchens, both chefs were laser-focused and kept the sous chefs on task. In reference to the judges’ feedback from this season, Mei said she wanted her dishes to “punch them in the face with flavor’’ and also used the phrase “tight like a puppy’s butthole’’ to describe one of her dishes. During his visit to the kitchen, Tom was surprised to learn that Mei wasn’t grilling her octopus and even more surprised that she was attempting a dessert.
Gregory arrived at his restaurant brimming with confidence in his meal plan and his sous chefs. He took particular pride in using green chorizo (even Padma had never heard ofit) in one of his dishes, marking the second time he had used the ingredient since arriving in Mexico. He admitted he was going out on a huge limb making a dish (the mole) with some 30 ingredients, but he was committed to using all Mexican flavors and cooking the way he lives life, i.e. without fear.
Two important adjustments were also made before dishes went out. Mei realized her dessert course wasn’t correctly balanced but was able to fix it before it went out, and Gregory added sugar to his carrot sauce before it went out to the dining room. Remember this!
Dishes
Mei
1st Course: Octopus with fish sauce vinaigrette, avocado-coconut puree and herbs
Feedback: Everyone at the table was impressed with the presentation of the dish, with Gail Simmons saying it was “one of the most beautiful plates’’ they had seen from her. But, unfortunately, Tom and Padma both thought the octopus was a bit dry and overcooked.
2nd Course: Congee with carnitas, scallion puree, hot sauce, peanuts, and egg yolk
Feedback: Padma thought it was better than the first congee (a winning dish in Episode 1) she made back in Boston. Hugh said it “pulled at the heartstrings’’ and connected the meal to her heritage.
3rd Course: Duck with braised lettuce, kimchi jicama, and huitlacoche
Feedback: Gail thought the ingredients were working against each other after the first few bites, but eventually thought the dish came together. Richard Blais thought there was too much huitlacoche for his taste, which is such a perfectly Richard Blais thing to say.
4th Course: Strawberry lime curd with toasted yogurt, milk crumble, and yogurt-lime ice
Feedback: Tom said it was the best dessert he had ever had on Top Chef. Well then!
Gregory
1st Course: Grilled octopus with prickly pear, xoconostle, passion fruit, and cashew milk
Feedback: Tom said the dish was a “powerhouse,’’ and Padma thought it was “sublime.’’ This course got Richard Blais very excited for the rest of the meal.
2nd Course: Shrimp broth with green chorizo, pickled nopales, and crispy shrimp heads
Feedback: Gail didn’t like the shrimp shells scratching the back of her throat. Tom thought the dish was the result of a chef working with ingredients he is unfamiliar with. Tom stated unequivocally that Mei’s second dish was better than Gregory’s.
3rd Course: Striped bass with roasted carrots, radish, pineapple, and tomatillo
Feedback: Tom thought the dish was sweeter than Mei’s dessert (not a good sign). Traci Des Jardins said that the 3rd course seemed like it came from a different chef from the first two course (also not a good sign).
4th Course: Red mole with short ribs and agave sweet potato
Feedback: Well, everyone loved it. Hugh Acheson said, simply, “This is spectacular.’’ Gail Simmons said, “Of all the courses, this was the stunner.’’ The dish was a huge hit at the table, and everyone agreed that Gregory was finishing on a high note.
Judge’s Table
And it all comes down to this! Just to torture the contestants one last time, the judges asked the two finalists how they were holding up. Mei admitted she was a wreck in the kitchen, despite looking “cool as a cucumber.’’ Asked how difficult the show was, Gregory said that it was the hardest thing he’s even done in his life, including getting sober five and a half years ago.
1st Course: Hugh Acheson said that Gregory’s overall meal was really strong and a wonderful ode to Mexico. Padma and Tom both gushed over his first course. Gail Simmons put in a vote for Mei’s first course mostly because of the presentation, but she was by herself on that one. Tom and Padma both still thought Mei’s octopus was too dry. After one course, the score was (unofficially) 1-0 Gregory.
2nd Course: Richard Blais loved that Gregory combined seafood and meat, but Padma couldn’t get past the crispy shrimp heads. Tom said the dish didn’t come together and that Gregory probably wished he had another shot at the dish. On Mei’s congee, Richard Blais couldn’t wait to talk about it, and Hugh Acheson said that the dish told her life story in a very personal way. Gail also loved that congee was the first thing she ate from Mei way back in Episode 1. The judges clearly loved that she took one of her strongest dishes and made it local with Mexican flavors. With the second course going to Mei, you have to figure it was tied 1-1 at this point.
3rd Course: Tom reiterated his feedback from the dinner table that Gregory’s dish was way too sweet, so his push to add sugar to the dish before it went out clearly backfired. Padma and Richard Blais were both disappointed in Mei’s dish and still weren’t sure how those components went together. Tom said it was her weakest dish of the night. How do you score this course? I’m going to call it a tie, with a slight edge to Mei.
4th Course: Not surprisingly, all of the judges fawned over Gregory’s mole. He took a big risk, and he knocked it out of the park. Padma thought it was “outstanding’’ and Gail said it was “complex and rich.’’ Tom said that he “edited’’ the dish perfectly and couldn’t get enough of it. But the judges were equally effusive in their praise of Mei’s dessert. Richard Blais, a man prone to hyperbole, said, “Everything that’s right about modern food was in that bowl.’’ Doubling down on his comments at the dinner table, Tom said not only was it the best dessert he’s had on Top Chef, but it was the best dessert he’s ever had in his life. Yes, you read that right. A jaw-on-the-ground Top Chef statement if there ever was one. Another tough course to score, but my instinct would be to give it to Mei solely due to Tom’s comments.
With the chefs returning to the kitchen to await the decision, where did that leave us? Richard Blais dinged Mei for overcooking her octopus, but both Gail and Tom criticized Gregory for his third course. Gail didn’t like the consistency of it, and Tom flat-out said that Mei won that round. It, of course, came down to the fourth course, and the judges all agreed that it was the strongest dish of the night for both finalists. Tom repeated his obsession for Mei’s dessert, and Hugh Acheson said that he thought she had two flawless dishes (the congee and the dessert). Richard Blais and Gail Simmons seemed to give the fourth course to Gregory, but the judges seemed to be leaning towards Mei for the overall win.
While watching this episode live, I thought Mei was going to win the entire time. But it wasn’t until writing this review that I realized how close this vote was. As cliched as it sounds, this finale came down to the slimmest of margins. The two finalists were brought back out, the background music grew louder, and the winner is….
Mei!
Only the third female champion in Top Chef history, Mei is bringing the title back to Los Angeles. They might need to add some shelves at her restaurant ink because owner Michael Voltaggio won Top Chef Season 6.
Well, that’s all folks. What did you think of the finale? Did the right person win? Were you #TeamMei or #TeamGregory? Let me know who you think should have won in the comments and on Twitter.
Lastly, thank you for reading me all season! It’s been a blast to do this every week, and it wouldn’t be possible without all of you. Thank You!
And utensils down!
Top Chef: Boston Cheat Sheet
Who Should’ve Won
After Nick beat Nina (grumble, grumble) in last season’s finale, it was satisfying to be happy with the winner this time around. There’s not much else I can say about Mei, except that I truly think the best chef won this time. She executed all season long and has some of the best technique I’ve ever seen on the show. The passion she has for cooking is written all over her face (even if it’s not always a smile), and she has absolutely done her parents proud. I can’t wait to see where she goes from here.
Weekly 45-Second Interlude During Commercial Break
One thing the producers probably hadn’t planned on when filming the finale was the town’s church bells ringing all night. With no apparent rhyme or reason, they rang throughout the filming. 7:15, 7:28, 7:49, 8:01, 8:12, and so on…
This Week’s Lesson
Boyz II Men — “End of the Road’’
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