Top Chef Masters Review: A Finale Full Of Memories

In the last episode of this season’s Top Chef Masters it came down to Mary Sue Milliken of Los Angeles, Traci Des Jardins from San Francisco, and Floyd Cardoz of New York. The cheftestants have come a long way and have been forced to cook in ridiculous challenges just so one of them will win $100,000 for their charity and have bragging rights for being this years Top Chef.

The show begins with the chefs joining host Curtis Stone and familiar faces James Oseland, Ruth Reichl, and Gael Greene in the kitchen. For their Final Challenge! they will be cooking a three-course “Meal of a Lifetime” and  the three courses will be inspired by dishes from their own life and a food memory of one of the show’s judges. Again Top Chef surprises me with a well thought out  and creative challenge instead of making them cook the most disgusting things in the most frustrating ways like they normally do.

For the first course the chefs need to make a dish that is reminiscent of their earliest memories of food. The second is based on the dish/moment that inspired them to become a chef. Finally for the third course, the chefs will cook something for one of the judges based on the dish that  made them want to become a food critic. Milliken ends up with Ruth Reichl, and will be making a lemon soufflé for her. Cardoz will be cooking for James Oseland (I am a big fan of this team up), who wants him to prepare a spicy beef rendang . Des Jardins gets Gael Greene’s and needs to fry up a duck with béarnaise sauce.

Because the dishes the chefs will be creating are high on the difficulty scale  they have eight hours to shop anywhere thy want and then prep. Now, you know how I hate the shopping parts of the show, but this is actually the only part of the finale with an ounce of drama. Los Angeles is having a rainy day and local Milliken figures it will be a traffic nightmare (it would be horrible traffic on a sunny day), so she does all her shopping at Whole Foods. It’s the right decision because she is back in the kitchen first and, especially compared to Cardoz who drowns in the traffic, loses an hour of cooking time and has only three hours of prep time.  But not to worry because each contestant has their executive chef from their respective restaurants there to help them. The original Top Chef usually makes them pick from previously booted off contestants, so having someone with experience and who works for them helping out is a huge benefit.

The big “twist’ this episode is that the next day the chefs are driven to Curtis Stone’s place and treated to some of his cooking. It was actually cute, and I do favor this kind of “twist” over frying insects. But then it’s time to get down to dinner and the dining room is full of diners like Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio along with previous judges from this season and a boatload of Top Chef Masters alums. It was a who’s-who’s of Top Chefs ready to dine at the last supper.

The first course comes from the chefs earliest food memory. Cardoz serves a childhood snack inspired upma polenta with coconut milk. Des Jardins mades a shrimp Creole inspired by her Louisiana grandfather. Milliken’s mother used to make a steak tartare during Chistmas, so she gives that recipe an Asian twist.

The theme for the second course is what inspired them to become chefs. Cardoz made a rice-flaked snapper in a tomato-fennel broth, Milliken a rigatoni stuffed with shrimp with a crab and shrimp salad and Des Jardins creates a roasted quail with sweetbreads. Diners seemed to like the sweetbreads, but, come on, who likes sweetbreads? But Cardoz and Milliken’s dishes get poor to mixed reviews.

The chef’s final course is based on their judge’s “food memories” that inspired them to become critics. Oseland gushes over Cardoz’s beef rendang made with short ribs. Reichl has another “Eureka!” moment with Milliken’s lemon soufflé with rhubarb compote and lemon ice cream.  Des Jardins made  “duck two ways” and neither of the ways was fried like Gael Greene asked. Oops.

The cheftestants come in for the final critique and in the end, the actually end, Cardoz was named as the Top Chef Master, the money will go to the charity of his choice,  Young Scientist Cancer Research Fund, in honor of his late father.  He says it means a lot to his family because they have sacrificed to allow him to do what he wanted to do. Curtis gives Floyd his Top Chef Master jacket (which I’m just now equating to The Masters’ green jacket) and another season comes to a close.

I really enjoy seeing the chefs create mouth watering dishes each week but I do miss having someone to really root against, someone who will cause some trouble, someone who should be committed. On the next Top Chef Masters I’m hoping they have at least one or two people on that I can’t wait to get booted off.

Season 3, Episode “My Life as a Chef” (original airdate June 15, 2011).

Top Chef: Masters airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

Images courtesy of Nicole Wilder and Bravo.