Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » top chef: bittersweet ending

yes, it’s 11 pm and i’m blogging my top chef reaction like a total food dork. i’ve never felt so bittersweet about the person i wanted to win actually winning. i loved harold, he was consistent and a good leader. that said, i think tiffani got shafted tonight. i don’t think she should have won, but i felt that this particular episode was unfair for the following reasons: they seemed to discount her dessert because dave made it. well, harold didn’t make the beef dish they seemed to rave about either but that doesn’t seem to have been pointed out on air. also, they chose to air a soundbite of katie saying she wanted to send harold’s fish back, but they chose not to run it on the show. they really seemed to stick it to her because steven and dave didn’t like her but didn’t point out on air that they showed up late and were drunk. like collichio says on his blog (where he clears up a lot of details!), dave seems to be nursing his hatred of tiffani like there’s no tomorrow. she’s really not the reason he didn’t win the show- he needs to get over it and stop whining. showing up late and drunk? yeah, that’s taking the high road, dave. i don’t know. what do you guys think? miguel annoyed the hell out of me. anyway, it was a let down for me. i wanted to see more cooking and less lorraine bracco looking tipsy. she was the paula abdul of the top chef panel. anyway, hooray for the first season- i can’t wait for season two and a new host. (ps: i wish i could try tiffnai’s artichoke risotto)

I think Harold deserved to win. And Tiffani is a flat out liar. She said the desserts were a collaboration! and we know that’s not true. She also said that she didn’t sleaze out Miguel even thogh it was on film! She’s a liar and a glory hog: she takes credit but never responsibilty.

Hi Grace.
First off, love your blog…I’m a beauty Creative Director in LA and visit your site almost daily… keep up the good work. Now about Top Chef! I agree with you- but I have to say I’m not a big fan of Harold or Tiffani. They both seem like great talents, but neither seem like good people. Reading your reviews of icff this week, I noticed you- like me, are happy to encouter talented people who are also “nice or lovely”. That seems rare these days. And if I’m being honest…I think Lee Anne was robbed…she was my early pick. Take care…let me know when you’re in LA.
ben

Isn’t it strange how they just keep bringing everyone back? Why bother kicking everyone off in the first place?! If they needed help cooking, I think they should have brought in bi-partisan people who had no original stake in the competition, and kept the focus on Harold and Tiffany. I can’t even believe Harold allowed Miguel to be on his team… and it was VERY unprofessional for Dave & Stephen to show up drunk/hungover. I imagine Tiffany had to be more upset about that as she seemed? That’s a bunch of crap. I hope next season they find a better host (I’m over Mrs. Roboto).

That was the worst finale show ever. I’m glad Harold won (still would have preferred Leanne) but I think Tiffani’s food looked 100 times better than Harold’s last night. I’ve thought his food was boring from the beginning and last night it was especially BOOOOOOOORING. And while some of the stuff Tiffani made looked boring too, lots of her dishes looked really good and at least she was truly showcasing her talent.

Harold really only made three of his own dishes (the beef was Miguel’s — and I agree, why didn’t they credit him? — and Leanne did the tart/cheese combo — man, I hope she opens a restaurant too! her cheese pairings just look phenomenal! remember the fig/cheese pair that she did and miguel flubbed?). And the judges thought the three that were sole his were only so-so.

And finally, I agree with Lorraine Bracco (hope they bring her back as a regular next season — at least she has a personality!) about how it should really only be about the food. Keep the drama in the kitchen and bring your A-game to the dining room. Seriously, you know some (if not most) of the top chefs in this country are total jerks and egomaniacs.

Okay, one last thing: CAN Ms. Joel (she is a moron) and Gail Simmons (she has a speech impediment!)

I was happy to see Harold win. Some people I know have worked with him and everyone agrees he is a really nice guy and well deserving. Its great to see that he will be using his prize money to open a restaurant here in NYC. As for Harold’s beef dish…It was different then when Tifanny “stole” the dessert from Dave. He never claimed that the Dish was totally his own, where as Tifanny barely wanted to give Miguel any credit. I agree Dave needs to move on.
Bottom line is that you should be happy for Harold, while the show may not have been edited to your liking…and maybe Tif deserved a little more credit, Harold definitely deserve to win!

Strangely enough, I think I saw Harold in the Delancy F Subway station Tuesday night. It was late, and he looked lost/frustrated.

If it was him, he’s shorter than I expected.

If it wasn’t him, it sure looked like him.

Now that I think about it, wasn’t the prize only $100K? That’s not very much at all to open a restaurant with. Out here in the Phoenix suburbs, people drop a mil easy when designing a place… is Harold gonna open up a street cart?

Re: Anonymous said…
as for bringing everyone back…they are a great cast of characters and make for good drama….if you were the producer…wouldnâ€™t you do the same?

I think the “drama” is fine up until the finale where someone’s career/future is on the line. If they’re trying to be as “fair” as the Colecchio leads on, they’d get people other than the cast to be sous chefs. I mean, they already did it how many times, it’s getting old to see those people coming back time and time again. There’s enough drama in the creation process already. Besides, I could have done without seeing Miguels face AGAIN. Ick.

Write a Comment:

Design*Sponge reserves the right to restrict comments that do not contribute constructively to the conversation at hand, contain profanity, personal attacks or seek to promote a personal or unrelated business.