Our New Top Chef
Congratulations to Chef Hung. Season 3 Top Chef
And for all three chefs, it came down to them being allowed to just cook. Wonderful job by each of you. Thank you for a wonderful season.
posted by Blogging Top Chef @ 1:37 AM
24 comments
24 Comments:
Yes, it was all about cooking and talent in this finale. Consequently, I found the show quite satisfying. Too bad Casey faltered, but I am happy with Hung's win.
Dale turned out some creations where, when giving his explanation, had me truly perplexed. I really did not know that a scallop with that green (I'm forgetting the name) and grapes could be that good. And that lamb was way over the top.
Nonetheless, I'm happy for Hung. The judges seem to think that he held back a little bit seasoning wise. But, I think that this was the way he designed his courses. Very light, to light, to perfect, to dessert. Out of all the chefs, he had by far the best planned menu and most sophisticated progression of flavors.
Also, I think it's taste preference when judges have these seasoning issues. Padma seems to like lighter dishes. Chef Tom seems to absolutely adore bigger, heavier dishes with a lot of flavor.
Dale really showed that he can sauce a piece of meat up. I'll buy a sauce from that guy any day... he should kick barefoot contessa off Stonewall Kitchen and take over that line!
David Lau, I'm in total agreement with your remarks . . . I'll only add that while all his dishes were right up my alley (including that delightful molten chocolate cake!), as a fellow who adores duck, I was left particularly breathless by Hung's third course dish. In reading Rocco diSpirito's description in his post-finale blog of the complex structure of that dish and its many ingredients, as well as the perfect result, I was astonished. I can believe it was true masterpiece.
This was, by far, the best year of TC ever.
We all saw the contestants perform for the best season's roster of judges yet. They all cooked their hearts out.
The "Manhattan" challenge, the "Restaurant Wars" cahllenge, the "Mise en Place Relay Race"... what a season! And, the bickering was kept to a minimum. They all clapped and celebrated each others' wins. It was GREAT! I hope Bravo keeps this "menu" intact for next season!
The finalsists were all given the finest sous chefs -- nobody could argue with that! When I saw who was stepping off those gondolas, I was so delighted!!! I wasn't rooting for Hung, but the way this season was handled, I have absolutely no quarrel with his being chosen as Top Chef. I don't have a bitter taste in my mouth like after last season at all!
As much as I would have loved to see a female Top Chef, Casey's inability to breathe at that altitude seemed to discombobulate her to the point where I was thinking it was a shame Tre hadn't made it to the top three instead. And I really liked the live finale. Like I said, it was a great season!
So, congratulations to Bravo, to Top Chef, and to Casey, Dale, and Brian for giving Hung a run for his money. And, finally to Hung -- who really does deserve to be Top Chef!
I am at peace.
HUNG IS TO FOOD
AS
TIGER IS TO GOLF
what were the judges thinking last night, Hung no way was he a winner, look at the people pole, he came in last. maybe top chef needs new judges for next season's show. Dale should have WON and these set of judges know it.
JUDGES YOU MADE A BAD CHOICE!!!!!
Perhaps the judges were thinking that, unlike Dale and Casey each of whom I'm sorry to say turned in "failed" dishes, whatever quibbles some of them might have had with respect to a certain restraint in seasoning or acidity (although opinions diverged on these points), Hung's four dishes were nonetheless uniformly excellent (and one simply extraordinary) by comparison. Perhaps the judges felt that Hung's consistency in this regard is what elevated him above his two competitors and earned him his victory.
Lynn
Precisely who are these "poll people"? What are their qualifications? Upon what standard have they based their assessment?
Are we to believe that something is good (or right, for that matter) only when a majority of people declare it so?
I was really happy with the result. Hung has shown his great technical skills the whole season and I think a lot of cockiness was playing to the camera.
I also think the final judging was fair. If you think about it, when you go to a restaurant, you want all your dishes to be good. If you have one bad dish, that's what you're going to remember and talk about. I know it stuck in Chef Tom's head.
Good season overall. I can't wait for season 4.
Lynn, I would have to disagree with you. America should not vote in this competition because viewers were not there to actually taste the food. This is different from a competition such as "American Idol", in which we can actually assess a constestent's performance over the TV. I don't believe that the judges got where they are in the cuisine world with the same experiences we have with cooking, so their opinions DO matter. I think technicality is very important in being able to repeat a successful recipe each time it goes out the kitchen doors and Hung has that skill. To me, to be technical means that you know how to execute a formula, which means that will everything in place, nothing should go wrong. To hold the title of "Top Chef" amongst so many competitors, it is important to at least get the technical part right. I find it inexcusable to serve under or overcooked food or to let a dish be served without tasting it first yourself.
Casey is very talented and it was a very close call before the finale. Her dishes may have a lot of "soul", but a competition for the best of the best is quite unforgiving, especially when the final challenge was to show them the best dishes that you can prepare under the circumstances.
The consolation for Casey and Dale supporters would be the fact that they have gotten so much exposure from this competition. Many top chefs and restaurants in the world know them now. Who's to say that Casey and Dale won't go farther than the outcome of the show?
That poll, no matter how worded is a popularity contest. It was at 60% for Casey before the food was served and barely went down after service.
While Casey was my personal favorite, I am happy with Hung's win. He tried to make himself into the villain but there was no evil there just focus and confidence. Add those to talent and skills and the result is the Top Chef title he earned.
Hung deserved it....very disappointing for Casey I would think....
she had done so well up until the finale
I'm sorry. Hung is an arrogant, selfish, soul-less producer of food which appeals only to those who prefer technique over everything else.
And what was the deal with the poll (which cost 99 cents to vote in, BTW) if it wasn't going to have any effect on the final result? I couldn't help noticing that the "winner" of Top Chef was not-so-incidentally far, far behind Casey in the voting.
Hung won exactly one final challenge before last night -- Casey won who knows how many Quickfires and eliminations. Shouldn't the whole body of work have been condsidered?
New judges, yes, absolutely.
-- Dissatisfied
Anon-10:40am wrote:
"Hung won exactly one final challenge before last night -- Casey won who knows how many Quickfires and eliminations. Shouldn't the whole body of work have been condsidered?"
OK, let's.
Hung
Quickfire wins - 4
Elimination wins - 2 (3, including Finale)
Top Placement Teams - 3
Casey
Quickfire wins - 3
Elimination wins -3
Top Placement Teams -1
(See Bravo site for additional details.) The above does not include Elimination Challenge Top placements, wherein Hung placed a close 2nd in several other events.
If you wish to believe there was some kind of vast difference between Casey and Hung throughout the series, with Casey the clear scoring leader, be my guest. But these numbers at least do not support such an interpretation.
I feel Hung is as qualified to be TC as much as Ilan is.
Yes,I am a huge Ilan fan but I feel he needs to mature some before having the TC title.
I feel Hung is not TC material because although he may be a skilled chef,he lacks leadership and team skills. You can cook like a mofo but if you cant keep a crew,what good does it do. Once Hung matures,he will be an amazing chef worthy of the TC title.
The fact that Hung said "I played it safe with the chocolate cake" after having played it safe all season long shows me he is not a TC but thats just my opinion.
chef biatch
I feel strongly that Hung is at a different, higher level than Ilan.
I disagree with the "lacking team skills" comment. Hung was a good team player when he needed to be, but he didn't lose sight of the fact that it was a competition, when he wasn't part of a team.
Although he "played it safe" with the chocolate cake, his dish in the course they added in the final 60 minutes, the cake he produced was apparently excellent even if it wasn't "wow".
Of the three finalists he was the only one who didn't make a bad dish in the final.
I'm not the biggest Hung fan, but I do believe he was the "Top Chef" this season.
BTW: I've really enjoyed your blogging efforts and the weekly chat chef biatch. Thank you for that.
Hung is a total and complete jerk.. and it's sad that this is what Bravo wants to represent this show. They totally screwed up this one.
Chef Biatch,
I couldn’t disagree with you more. In my view, Hung is the only contestant of the past three seasons of TC who even comes close to exhibiting all the essential qualities required by anyone who would aspire to the position of a true Top Chef or, for that matter, Top “Anything”. Interestingly, many of those qualities are precisely the ones for which Hung is criticized the most -- a not unfamiliar thing in the world today. This is particularly so with respect to his competitive spirit and his ambition for excellence which, I believe, burns more passionately in his soul than in any other contestant who has presented in this series thus far.
I wholly concur with Chefs Soltner and Di Spirito who offered their explicit endorsements of Hung’s values, endorsements that to the best of my knowledge no other chef-judge, let alone one as illustrious as Andre Soltner, has extended to any other contestant of the last couple of years.
As for Hung’s molten chocolate cake: for my money, the choice to do something so basic, so elemental, as a follow-up to the extraordinarily subtle complexity of his duck course was an audacious stroke of genius. The fact that it was perfectly executed simply added to my enjoyment of the whole idea. I think I would have danced on the table had I been one of the judges!
Harold will always be my Top Chef.
I'm proposing a Top Chef Mall Tour for next season so the fans can actually taste and judge for themselves :-)
You can read my own review here. (The short version is that I was fairly disappointed with this season as it was fairly boring).
Hung was clearly on a level above casey and dale. His confidence appeared as if he entered the competition knowing that he was going to win. The other chefs seemed only glad to be there. (except for howie)
I knew Hung would win since watching the first episode. Great job Hung. Looking forward to trying your restaurant the next time i'm in vegas.
http://www.disneylandsecrets.com
This was my first season watching TC. I do feel that Hung was the best chef, although Casey was my favorite.
What bothers me so much about Hung is he is so not a team player. He'd see another chef struggling, Hung would have free time, yet not offer to help.
He, like Howie, would easily throw a fellow chef under the bus. He formed absolutely no bond with any of the other chefs.
So, imo, best chef? Yes. Best person? No, in the bottom 2 w/o a doubt.
Again it should be pointed out that it's a competition. When hung was part of a team he was a team player.
You can say he didn't form a bond with any other contestant, but Sara was glad to be Hung's sous chef in the final.
Anon-4:46pm wrote:
As for Hung’s molten chocolate cake: for my money, the choice to do something so basic, so elemental, as a follow-up to the extraordinarily subtle complexity of his duck course was an audacious stroke of genius. The fact that it was perfectly executed simply added to my enjoyment of the whole idea.
And . . . that "perfectly executed" cake was made at 11,000 feet! Did any of the judges make note of that?
No competitior is under any obligation to help another contestant who is "in the weeds" during an individual challenge. It's a competition setting; you're not there to be BFF's with everyone, though friendships/connections can be made. I have no doubt from reading a blog from a colleague of Hung's at Guy Savoy Paris that he is willing to help anyone, anytime in a real restaurant setting (he went to France to learn meats from her; she came to Vegas where he tutored her in fish). A restaurant kitchen during service is the epitiome of teamwork.
Hung was always willing to do what he could in the team challenges (even risking himself on the deepfryer in the Roach Coach).
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