Top Chef: Masters (Bravo)

View Date: 8/19/09

Chefs: Hubert Keller, Rick Bayless, and Michael Ciarello

Final Challenge: The chefs need to create a series of dishes based on their lifetimes. The first dish should be based on their first food memory. The second dish should be based on what made them decide to become a chef. The third dish should be based on what they experienced when opening their first restaurant, and the fourth dish was to be based on where their cooking was going in the future. The guest judges for the final meal were Tom, Padme, Gail, and the five previous winners of Top Chef.

One thing that is nice about this season is that the chefs all seem to get along pretty well in the kitchen. I think that is partially due to the fact that they are competing for charity. While they want to do the best for their causes, losing doesn't mean that they won't be able to open a restaurant, etc. Another aspect is that they all have a mutual respect for each other, and can playfully banter because of that respect.

The chefs were thrown a surprise, but it was a very good one for a change. They received video messages of support from their sous-chefs, then the sous-chefs walked into the kitchen to help. This was obviously a great treat for these guys, especially because they don't do much of their own prep work anymore. We also got to see pictures of the chefs from the past, such as when they opened their first restaurants. I must say, all of the chefs look much better now. Like a fine wine, they have improved with age.

Based on the tasters' comments, all of the chefs cooked fantastic spreads that really showed who they were. One thing that must be said about the Masters: they definitely know who they are as chefs. I really like Tom's comment that this meal, with 12 dishes to taste, was an “embarrassment of riches”.

I think the main problem I had with this version of Top Chef was the first few weeks. When they brought in 4 new chefs each week, you couldn't really get to know who they were. But in the masters round, once we got down to 6, the structure of the show changed to be more like the original series, and I started to like it much better. I got to learn a lot more about the chefs, and really started to connect with them.

Rick got 4.5 stars from the diners. Hubert received 4 stars, and Michael got 4.5 stars. From the critics, Michael received 4.5 stars, 3.5 stars, and 4.5 stars, for a grand total of 17 stars. Hubert received 4.5 stars, 4 stars, and 4 stars from the critics, for a total of 16.5 stars. Rick received from the critics 4.5 stars, 4.5 stars, and 4.5 stars. Rick won the entire competition with 18 stars. Each charity received money from the sponsor Lexus for the chef making it to the finale, in addition to the money previously won.

10 words or less: Congratulations for all of the charities.