a top chef recap

so i learned last night that top chef will not be dragged out any longer. next week will be the final finale! i'm sad because i'll be on vacation and will miss the long-awaited resolution of this reality competition, but i'm sure i will get a chance to see it again soon.

just a note for my readers, too. i don't know if any of you particularly care about top chef or what i have to say about it. but you're just going to have to deal with it for a little while longer. don't worry, project runway starts soon (nov. 14!) and i am REALLY good at picking the winner on that show. believe me.

last night, the first half of the finale was a nutty one for our little top chefs. first, they had to cook trout in the wilderness using camping equipment for three star michelin chef eric ripert, who likes to eat food off his knife.

it was disastrous, but casey won. brian, the seafood master of the show, downplayed his significant loss, stating "i don't care because to people who know seafood, trout isn't even considered seafood." what. ever.

ultimately, brian's trout drout foreshadowed his undoing. after mastering an elimination challenge in which our chefs had to cook elk, brian was shown the door. the judges all had good things to say about each chefs' dish, but sadly brian's song and dance show could not hide is overall lack of originality or class. (just my opinion)

so it seems like the guy i predicted to win it all is now gone, along with my other favorites. earlier this week i predicted that dale would be voted out of the kitchen, but he stepped it up this week and actually won the elimination challenge. it also helped that, as we learned early in last night's episode, three people will be competing in next week's final competition, as opposed to the two competitors from previous seasons.

so now i guess it's anybody's game. casey and dale are continually surprising the judges, but dale's cooking is inconsistent and casey is unpolished and not classically trained. it looks like the favorite is hung, but as tom collichio said last night "we don't see any of you in your food," meaning he cooks with precision but not soul. i'm sure his food is yummy, but it reminds me too much of the cover of bon appetite: perfect, but inedible.

however, there are some who think that hung is going to take it all.

i'm pulling for casey who, as the only remaining woman, is my sentimental favorite. we need a female top chef! i guess we'll just have to wait until next week to see. and i'll have to wait a little bit longer...