Mehh. (Bravo photo)
I’m still befuddled by last night’s winner of Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters.” Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised chef Marcus Samuelsson took the title and $100,000 for charity, despite what seemed to be a pretty underwhelming third course. Or at least it was poorly edited to make it seem that way. His hamachi meat balls and couscous just looked kinda . . . blah. The impression I got from watching it was that he was rewarded more for his concept and for challenging the judges’ Western tastebuds than for the actual flavor of the dish, which I think defeats the purpose of the show. It’s “Top Chef,” not “Top Concept.” It’s nice to introduce diners to a new type of cuisine, but shouldn’t it also need to taste good? His other two courses were well-received, but didn’t seem so outstanding that they would have made up for a weak third course. I just don’t get it.
Seafood master Rick Moonen appeared to get robbed. Other than some slightly chewy gnocchi and not-crispy-enough bacon, every bit of his three courses drew raves, and two of them were described as “perfect.” I don’t know how you beat “perfect.”
Asian fusion king Susur Lee was doomed by a bizarre-looking tuna with wasabi mousse that looked like a mutant heart. Everything else he cooked looked amazing, especially the Thai lamb wrapped in sausage (Droooooool).
Misleading editing made the finale of last season’s “Top Chef” annoying, and that was obviously the case again. What we saw was not what we got, and I left feeling a little bit cheated. Maintaining tension is fine, but manipulating the judges’ comments to trick the audience is insulting. The “Top Chef” franchise is better than that, and its viewers deserve better.
In the end though, I just didn’t care that much. All three chefs came off as super-competitive, egotistical and kinda jerky, especially when compared to last year’s delightful final trio of Rick Bayless, Hubert Keller and Michael Chiarello. The editing was a problem all season long. By focusing so much on the oversized personalities, I never got a sense of what each chef’s food was really about. What kind of dishes does Marcus make at his restaurant? I still have no clue. Compare that to last season, when, after the finale, I felt like I could walk into any of the three finalists’ restaurants and immediately know which dishes the respective chefs put their hearts into (Bayless’ mole´ for example). In the end, no one – and no dish – was particularly memorable.
The real “Top Chef” starts next week. I’m trying to be excited for it, but two of these disappointing endings in a row makes me a little more wary.
So what’d you think? Did Marcus deserve to win? Was Rick’s ADD intensity annoying or endearing? Was there something missing with this season’s chefs? And when you saw Hubert Keller again, did you suddenly remember how much you miss him on this show?
