Part one of the season finale of Top Chef: New York aired last week, narrowing the field down to just three remaining chefs. Stefan Richter, Hosea Rosenberg, and Carla hall will all compete in the season finale to determine who wins this season of Top Chef.
Elimination Challenge and Sous Chefs in Top Chef New York
The contestants meet head judge Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi to find out the details of their final elimination challenge. They will each create a three-course meal with no restrictions. They do not have to prepare a dessert, and will each have a sous chef to help them prepare. As the chefs wonder who they will be, Marcel Vigneron (Season 2), Casey Thompson (Season 3) and Richard Blais (Season 4) emerge. These three chefs were the runners up from their respective seasons.
Stefan, Hosea, and Carla draw knives to determine the order that they get to select their sous chefs. Hosea chooses first, deciding to work with Richard. Stefan chooses Marcel and Carla is happy to have Casey left to work with. They have two hours to prepare their meals at Audubon Tea Room. The next day, they will have three hours to cook at Commander’s Palace.
The Panel of Judges
Hosea, Stefan, and Carla will cook their final meal for a panel of twelve judges. Padma and Tom will be joined by both Gail Simmons and Toby Young, who shared a position throughout the season. The other eight judges are Rocco DiSpirito, Hubert Keller, Branford Marsalis, Susan Spicer, John Besh, Tory McPhail, Ti Martin, and Fabio Viviani.
Cooking at Commander’s Palace
When the chefs arrive at Commander’s Palace to cook their meals, they are told that they will also need to create a passed hors d'oeuvre for the judges to eat before the meal. Three traditional New Orleans proteins are available to use. The choice is decided by a king cake. Whoever finds the small figuring baked into the cake is responsible for assigning the proteins. Hosea finds it and chooses redfish for himself, crab for Carla and alligator for Stefan.
During the cooking and planning process, Carla allows Casey to make several suggestions about her meal. They prepare a shiso soup with crab, seared red snapper, sous-vide New York steak, and a blue cheese soufflé with an apple tartlet. Unfortunately, the oven is too hot for the soufflé and it is not servable.
Stefan begins his meal with alligator soup. His next course is salmon and halibut carpaccio, which he freezes to allow him to slice it thinly. Next is squab with red cabbage, and he ends his meal with a dessert. The plate includes ice cream, chocolate mousse, and a banana lollipop.
With redfish as his appetizer protein, Hosea creates a griddled corn cake to serve the blackened fish on. His first course is a trio of sashimi with citrus and fennel oil. He follows that with scallops and foie gras on pain perdu. Hosea chooses not to present a dessert to the judges, and instead ends his meal with venison. The decision is based on his strengths and what he wants his last Top Chef dish to be.
Final Judge’s Table
Only Tom, Padma, Gail, and Toby were present at the final Judge’s Table. One by one, they discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the contestants. Overall, the consensus seemed to be that Hosea had the strongest appetizer and third course, while Carla created the best first course and Stefan easily won the second course. However, Carla created a poor second course and the main element of the third course did not make it on the plate so she is not in the running. She was upset with herself for allowing Casey’s suggestions to change the direction of her meal.
They were left to deliberate between rivals Hosea and Stefan. Stefan’s second course was the favorite dish of the entire evening, but ultimately, Hosea had the better presentation. Hosea was named Top Chef, winning $100,000 dollars and several other prizes.
Stay tuned for a reunion episode and listen to the chefs’ candid thoughts about the show and each other. Visit the Top Chef: New York Page for more episode summaries, cast profiles, and gossip on the show.
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