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Top Chef Masters

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apskip:
It's now official. And the winner is Rick Bayless with what thought was a well-earned menu and dish execution. Michael Chiarello was a close second, barely ahead of Hubert Keller in third. Rick wins status for Mexican cuisine and $100,000 for the Frontera Farmers Foundation.

apskip:
The 3 master chefs arrive at the Getty Villa in the Pacific Palisades section of the City of Los Angeles. If it looked famliar, it is also the site for the famous J.Paul Getty Museum. There is no Quickfire Challenge. Their assignment is to cook the best 4 course meal ever using the following guidelines:
1. course 1 will be inspired by their first food memory
2. course 2 will be inspired by when you first wanted to become a chef
3. course 3 will be inspired by the opening of your first restaurant
4. course 4 will be inspired by where they want to go in the future
It is the story of their culinary life in 4 acts or the meal of their culinary career. Rick terms is "the story of our life on a plate". They agree that any of the three of them is capable of winning it. Michael predicts that the judging results for this episode will be the closest of any episode. I agree with him; logic says that 3 chefs this good will be very close in culinary talent and performance.

They are told that the guest judges will be Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons (all smart enough to get themselves dealt into this very special meal) plus the winners from top Chef 1 (Harold Dieterle), 2 (Ilan Hall), 3 (Hung Huynh), 4 Stephanie Izard  and 5 Hosea Rosenberg. Their 8 votes will be averaged and count as one score along with the regular Top Chef Masters votes.

The chefs go shopping at Whole Foods(I bet they went to the one they have become used to rather than whichever Whole Foods is closest to the Getty Villa). They have to shop for ingredients in 60 minutes with $1300 (I calculate that to be over $100 a head for ingredients), then get 5 hours to cook that evening and 2.5 hours the next day. In between, the producers have a surprise for the chefs that thye hope will be appreciated. A diskette or tape plays to display sous chefs from the flagship restaurant of each chef. Laurent Pillard wishes Hubert well. Nick Ritchie does the same for Michael.  Brian Enyart does the same for Rick. The surprise is that each of them is there at Getty Villa to help their chef win. Now this is really appreciated because having good sous chef help can be critical and who could be more helpful than their usual sous chefs. A special ingredient arrives for Hubert(this is allowed for Top Chef so why not for Top Chef Masters), two large black truffles. Rick claims that use of truffles is just expensive and does not per se add anything special to a dish.

So, away we go with the thinking behind each course and the actual menu for that course:

1. the Alsatian pastry oven and its use to make Baeckeoffe, a traditional dish,is from Hubert's youth. Rick was inspired by his parents' barbecue restaurant. Michael was inspired by his Calabrese-born mother making gnocchi with a paddle out of dough.

Hubert - Alsatian lamb, beef, pork and potato stew
Rick - barbeued hickory smoked quail, "sour slaw"  w/ watermelon salad
Michael - duo of gnocchi, crispy potato gnoochi with fonduta and riccotta gnocchi with tomato sauce

2. Rick was inspired by a trip to Mexico where he was first exposed to Oaxacan black mole with cooking techniques that are unique to it. Michael talks about being from an immigrant family and wanting to give black to the Latino community. Hubert apprenticed at l'Auberge de Ville restaruant in eastern France and learned to make the dish below.

Hubert - salmon souffle, royal osetra caviar and riesling sauce,  choucroute flan
Rick - ahi tuna with Oaxacan black mole, plaintain tamale, grilled nopales
Michael - polenta w/ rabbit, asparagus, wild mushrooms, duck and rabbit liver spedini

3. Michael opened a new American cuisine restaurant in Miami. Rick and his wife opened Frontera Grill in 1987. Hubert wants to duplicate the key dish from his first restaurant.

Hubert - Colorado lamb chop wrapped in vegetable mousseline, vanilla-Merlot sauce inside bottom 2/3 of a potato and whole blanched garlic
Rick - achiote marinated cochinta pibil (suckling pig) cut into squares seared and served with pan juices, sunchoke puree, crispy pigs' feet, pickled red onion
Michael - whole fried (in peanut oil) ginger marinated rouget, mango salad, fresh wasabi, bottarga with arborial rice flower

4. Michael is inspired by the Napa Valley and is using cuttings from Napa Cabernet vineyards to accompany his dish. Rick wants to go toward rustic dishes, particularly those requiring precise temperature control. Hubert somehow is not asked about his inspiration.

Hubert - pan-seared sweetbreads w/ Perigord truffles on scrambled eggs and spinach, braised Wagyu beef cheeks w/ celery puree, pinot noir, lemongrass  and ginger sauce
Rick - arroz a la tumbaua w/ lobster, crab,squid, mussels, shrimp w tomato/jalapeno broth; chorizo "air" sauce, pickled jalapenos
Michael - brined short ribs, 5 onion cavalonero with a Savuer doily under his plate for James Oseland and essence of smoldering Napa Valley Cabernet vines

Comments by the guest judges primarily occur as each course is being consumed. Harold says that the Hubert's  sweetbreads are super overcooked, but James disagrees with him. Padma says vanilla overwhelming on Hubert's dish. Hubert's garlic edated by the guest judges; some like it and some don't. Padma says Rick's Mexican food needs to be credited for its complexity. Tom explains to criticism of Rick's seafood as overcooked that the length of time to serve each course may have thrown off Rick's timing and allowed the mussels to dry out. Padma is crazy about Michael's short ribs. Jay says that Michael is the master story teller (presumably meaning in person, not necessarily with his food). Tom metnios that Michael's Calabrese heritage is shared by him having a Calabrese mother too. The vote by the guest judges occurs with the judges convening elsewhere.

At Critics Table (to differentiate it from the guest judges), the permanent judges agree they have just eaten a very special meal, but know it is their job to grade the master chefs. They comment/question the food of each of those master chefs:

Hubert - "dense, rich, luscious"stew; James found the garlic raw, was surprised it was blanched 3 times; Gael says drunken with vanilla
Rick - reveals that his Oaxacan black mole has 27 ingredients and critics love it and tamales, Gael explains her prejudice against foam/"air" and criticizes anyone (including Rick) trying it
Michael - has a complicated creation presented for spare ribs, on rouget dish Jay mentioned olive oil not going with mango salad

The final scoring is:
Hubert - TC 4    O 4.5 R 4    G 4 total 16.5
Rick      - TC 4.5 O 4.5 R 4.5 G 4.5 total 18                   
Michael - TC 4,5 O4.5 R 3.5 G 4.5 total 17

So Rick wins Top Chef Masters. He claims special new status for Mexican cuisine in the U.S. He wins $100,000 for Frontera Farm Foundation. Hubert's efforts to influence the judges with black truffles fell short.

I found Top Chef Masters delightful. I know some viewers did not like the absence of chef commentary designed to bring down their opponent that is typical of Hell's Kitchen but seen often enough in regular Top Chef. I don't like that commentary and would like Magic Elves production company to show us more of the food prep and less of the personality B.S. I found top Chef Masters to be above all that, although Michael Chiarello did try hard but unsuccessfully to inject some.

TexasLady:
I loved the show, I liked the ending, but most of all I enjoyed watching professionals who are secure in their own knowledge and willing to lend a hand to their fellow chefs.

Good job all around, they are all winners.

Thank you as always apskip for another excellent recap!

shadia:
Good show. I was glad that Rick won. I hope there will be a season 2.

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