Top Chef Masters: Rick Bayless Wins!
It has been a long road to the “Top Chef Masters” finale and some great chefs have fallen by the wayside. This week was the finale with the final three chefs: Hubert Keller, Michael Chiarello, and Rick Bayless.
The challenge was to make a series of four dishes: their first food memory, the experience that made them decided to be a chef, the opening of their first restaurant, and where they are headed. It was nice hearing the memory stories, like Hubert’s memory of a baker’s oven because his father owned a bakery. For the second course, Rick decided to do a Oaxacan black mole he had been he was a teen in Mexico. That was pretty complicated, but he pulled it off.
It was a nice touch when the chef’s sous chefs walked in to help them (Hubert’s was his son). For the third dish, Michael went with a fish dish he hadn’t made in 25 years. Hubert went with lamb chops and Rick used pig.
But, what about the future? Michael used smoldering vines, which was a nod to Napa, Rick made a seafood dish, and Hubert went with a lower cost dish because of the recession.
The judges gave Hubert 16 ½ stars, Michael got 17 stars and despite the fact that his sous chef overcooked the seafood (maybe it was the memory of that incredible mole), Rick Bayless was declared the winner with 18 stars.
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