Top Chef 2.13

Sam should have won.

 

Yes, I know he wasn't in the final 2.  I didn't watch much of Top Chef last season, but I've been reading that maybe the reason he wasn't in the final 2 was because he was too similar to last year's winner.  I hope that isn't the reason why, because that's not a good reason!

 

What did the finale of Top Chef teach me?

 

- Ilan was still extremely bitter about Marcel - even after he won.

 

- Food & Wine spoiled the whole thing (fine for me since I read spoilers for reality shows), and then tried to pretend they didn't by twisting the Marcel feature into a bogus "he might also be the winner!" article.

 

- Marcel gave the classic "I didn't come here to make friends" line almost all the non-winners of reality shows give.

 

- Elia claimed Ilan's food tasted better than Marcel's even though she didn't even know what Marcel made.  I used to like her more before she shaved her head.  Unrelated events, I should think, but her attitude shifted 180 degrees once the show started airing.  It's like she jumped on the "Marcel sucks" bandwagon.

 

- Betty shrieks.  Still.

 

- The final 2 should have been Sam and Marcel, or Sam and Ilan, or, if Cliff hadn't gone so over the top, Sam and Cliff.  That was my final 2 pick from the beginning.  Basically, I think Sam should have won.  He saved that hearts of palm dish and I was almost drooling over it and I am not a huge heart of palm fan!

 

- Course by course I think it should have gone: Marcel, Ilan (the fish looked amazing (of course Elia made it...) v. Marcel made a salad?!), Marcel (the vegetarian dish that looked amazing), no opinion on the beef because I don't really eat it to be able to tell the difference, Ilan (but only because I prefer fruit-based desserts and sorbet).

 

- They basically acknowledge that Marcel is a better chef and will be far superior in the future, but claim that Ilan is a better chef "now."  Maybe this is because he has made all these dishes before...

 

- I wasn't a big fan of Marcel during the show but I actually wanted him to win because I think what he was doing was more creative, better designed and I wanted to try the food more.  With or without the kampachi.

 

- I want to go to Hawaii because the food looks amazing.  All that amazing film of fish and brightly colored fruits and vegetables... I love food photography, and the food there looks so good.  And the weather is great.  And I really want to go to Hawaii right now.  It's really cold here.

 

So that's what the Top Chef finale really did for me.  Made me wish that Sam had been in the final 2 and won, and made me long to go to Hawaii.  Excellent.