Well, it has come down to the final two, Adrienne and Joe Flamm. I saw some of the marathon that ran today and had forgotten that nearly all the chefs had emotional breakdowns when Flamm was voted out. So all the chefs are probably rooting for him. He seems like a great guy. I also really like Adrienne, so they really can’t go wrong. I did just hear the response from the crowd after Padma said, “You are top chef” on the previews. So I have a feeling Flamm pulls it out.
God. They are at 11,000 feet elevation. I hope they don’t have to bake. Aspen is so beautiful! I can’t believe those mountains are real! I hate that Jonathan Waxman is a judge.
It’s time to select two sous chefs, Adrienne selects first. She picks Christopher. This is smart they have similar flavor profiles. Joe picks Mustache Joe. I feel like he should have taken Bruce. But he is right, they are both pasta guys, but then so is Bruce. Adrienne selects Carrie. That is exactly who I hoped she would pick. Joe picks Fati. She bawled like a baby when he left the first time so these two are very close.
Adrienne knows exactly what her menu is. It sounds a bit too… fancy pants. That’s not who she really is. I mean she certainly elevates southern cuisine, but this who charred octopus with black grits doesn’t sound great to me. Adrienne is doing a weird banana pudding for her dessert course. I could swear she said uni. That’s sea urchin. I’m worried.
Joe Flamm has uttered the word crudo. Why, Joe, why? I don’t see the reason to have a course on Top Chef that is not cooked! He has a cake for dessert. In Aspen. Fati says reminds us that if there is a contest about who loves Joe Flamm the most wins.
They have 30 minutes to spend $500 in Whole Foods. I can never get out of Whole Foods in under an hour. At the checkout line, Adrienne comes up a bit short on money and Joe Flamm buys three items for her. He was $50 under. Damn, he really is the best guy ever. They also had a place for special orders. Flamm got a pig’s head. He named her Nora.
Carrie is terrified about making grits for the first time. Apparently, “black grits” is Adrienne’s invention using squid ink in grits. Oh, Adrienne. You are losing me.
The final two return to their suite to find Tom and Graham Elliot cooking dinner for them. The next morning Eric Ripert gives Adrienne advice. I love him. I didn’t know who Flamm’s mentor chef was.
Fatima is in charge of the cake and she’s never cooked at altitude before. This could be a disaster.
It’s time for dinner! It’s four courses head to head.
For the first course, Adrienne has spoon bread with buttermilk dashi, sea urchin, caviar, ham and wheat tuile, There is no such thing as “buttermilk dashi.” Basically, Flamm served sushi. They loved them both, but Adrienne seemed to win that course.
For the second course, Joe is very happy with his tortellini with pig head. Adrienne served blackened octopus with squid grits as a play on fish and grits. I made shrimp and grits today and I think I’ll stick with mine. It seems like Flamm’s broth and tortellini wins this one. Adrienne’s dish was a bit dry.
On the third course, Adrienne is a bit nervous, She’s presenting short ribs with blackeyed peas. It sounds delicious to me. Joe did a ribeye, eye with roasted asparagus. Both of them used bone marrow in their third course. Joe’s rib eye were over rested. Once again, Adrienne’s dish was dry. This round may be a wash.
For the final course, Joe’s Italian cake seems like it came out fabulous. Ah. Thank goodness, Adrienne’s banana pudding has yuzu which is a Japanese citrus fruit and not uni as I misheard her say it earlier. This is not banana pudding though. It’s some sort of overly deconstructed banana pudding. The judges agree with me about the banana pudding being pretty but not as tasty as banana pudding. They had some issues with the ricotta under Joe’s cake as well. Perhaps another draw?
My guess is that Flamm won.
Adrienne and Flamm are both from Chicago and are super supportive of each other. That’s good to see.
At Judges Table, Padma says that Adrienne’s first course was probably the best thing she has had all season from anyone.
Tom and the rest all loved her blackened octopus. They did want more grits and more fat on the plate. Gail loved Tom’s broth on his tortellini dish. It was a dish she will never forget. She called it magical.
Tom does not understand blackeyed peas. I totally understand why Adrienne mashed half of them I do that all the time. blackeyed peas are supposed to be cooked to death but you also want some in there that are still whole. She’s going to lose this competition because yankees do not understand blackeyed peas. That’s sort of tragic. They loved Joe’s asparagus and the bone marrow sauce. But, his meat was too chewy.
They think both chefs named their desserts the wrong thing. It’s a squeaker. Damn. They are going to announce fan favorite on WWHL. WHY?
Joe Flamm won! Tom was very sweet to Adrienne. I like to see that from him.
I was pulling for Adrienne. All of her courses were beautiful. I thought everything’s eats black eyes with several smushed. I’m still happy for Joe.
I was team Joe.
Fati redid that cake 3-4 times!
Why on earth withhold can favorite?
Fan..
I’m pretty sure it was Fatima. Once again both choices were great options.
You are correct! I looked online.
Tweeters are celebrating!
Great recap TT! I’ll eat pretty much anything but get very confused when “fancy” food has fancy names…I looked up words that just rolled off your tongue! Thank you!
I was team Adrianne, mostly because she’s a girl (yes, I’m biased that way when I want to be) and she really grew through the competition. Of course I love Joe F. too!! What a honey bear!
Perfect team selections! This was a good season, the chefs brought it and the judging seemed fair.
I’m hungry now!
Thanks Kipper. I’m hardly qualified to recap these shows. I look up a lot of stuff. After a while though, you realize that there are really only a handful of fancy terms they repeat over and over.
It’s really similar to the weatherpeople lately. It’s a Thundersnow! A cyclonebomb! It;s like they are working my last nerve making me think my favorite yankees in NYC is going to be killed by some freak storm. I’m anxious enough,
Broth is broth. Dashi is broth. Butttermilk is not broth. It’s basically the OPPOSITE of broth. Raw tuna is sushi not whatever Joe called it tonight. It’s the theatre of the absurd.
I know broth, I know buttermilk. I’ve experienced thundersnow. Is cyclone bomb a real thing too?
Funny about the weather terminology!
In the Beekman 1802 newsletter, Josh and Brent included a photo essay of the farm after they got 41″ of snow and commented that in small town upstate NY ( Sharon Springs in their case), people just say it is snowing. ?
Yikes! That’s a lot of snow!
His first course was crudo, which is a term for a raw seafood dish generally served with a citrus dressing of some type, oil and seasonings. Different from sushi in that don’t put all that on sushi or serve it that way.
Ceviche is another variation. Lots of tasting menus start out with a crudo, it’s light and yummy. 🙂
I’m well aware of what crudo is. It’s on every fucking episode of the last five seasons. Crudo, sushi, etc. IS NOT COOKING THE FISH ON A FUCKING COOKING SHOW.
You probably now think buttermilk dashi is a thing now too. Much of the issues with both chefs menus were the ridiculously over pretentious meaningless ways they named their food.
I’m sorry, i thought you didn’t know because you said you weren’t sure of some terms. 🙂
I know sometimes they make up silly names for dishes to make them sound fancy.
I thought it was a great season and the location stunning. I would have been happy with either winning but must say I love Joe Flamm!!
I enjoyed the finale and this season so much because everyone got along, was funny, and the challenges were interesting. I don’t like it when there are shady people and tons of bullshit drama like Claudette was bringing earlier in the season. Negative, shady, people suck.
Joe Flamm is top notch, Adrienne cooked her heart out and I love how all the sous chefs did such a great job. Great bunch of people
I get so damn hungry watching though. I fully intend to go to chris’ restaurant!
I’m going to Brother Luck’s first chance I get. This season was special to me. I had my rehearsal dinner and wedding reception at the Little Nell. Such a wonderful place.
Just wondering—did they have a significant amount of time( i think a month maybe?) before the finale like they usually do–especially in seasons where the finale is somewhere else, or did they go right into it like it looked like they did. I enjoyed this season. Both finalists were great people.
ARE great people I should have said : )
They always go straight into the finale. The entire season is show in three weeks. It’s a grueling schedule.
I meant that the finalists themselves have some time between the last elimination challenge and the finale. One of the producers stated that sometimes it’s as long as 2 months especially if it’s in another city—but this season it looked like they went right into the finale but maybe that’s just how it was edited.
I couldn’t pick a favorite to win, they both seemed so likeable and talented. I remember how Adrian got thrown under the bus a couple of times and she didn’t let it get to her. Props to Joe for letting her buy the last few items at Whole Foods.
I was so sad another season of Top Chef is over! I am already waiting for the next one. That spoon bread dish sounded like it would be my favorite; even though I am a Northerner, I have made and enjoyed spoon bread for ages. The dessert is what killed her. Flamm’s team took a chance with baking and it turned out well. I loved both of them though.
(also, we did not have the thundersnow but it has sure been a mess up here the past week. I need spring badly)
I naively envy your snow. We have had rain way more days than not in 2018. We had sun, but COLD today and tomorrow afternoon we will have more rain and the potential for severe weather. Storms all day Sunday then sun may be on the horizon.
This was the first season of Top Chef I’ve watched in a few years, I got sick of how Bravo’d it had become. I have to give props to the tourism departments who buy their way into the show, because damn I want to go to Colorado now, it looks amazing.
I was happy for Fati to win fan favorite, she certainly could use the cash. I’m glad they’re all standing by her.
Loved the whole Season and all your recaps TT, thanks! Top Chef is best show produced by BRAVO. I wish they still did Project Runway. It’s never been as good on Lifetime.