*The entire post is a SPOILER for last night’s Top Chef finale.

At first, I didn’t really care about Top Chef, but then I began to catch marathons of previous seasons, and I got kind of addicted. This current season of Top Chef was the first time I was actually watching episodes as they aired, rather than through reruns. I don’t mind admitting that I watched just because I like Carla and Tiffany so much – while I don’t think Tiff and Carla are the best “chefs” I would definitely want to eat their down-home Southern cooking any day of the week.

Anyway, Antonia, Tiffany, Richard Blais and Michael were the final four. The four contestants got to go to the Bahamas, where they faced some seriously hard challenges (diving for your own conk?!?). Tiffany was cut first, and then Antonia was cut last week. Even though I started watching for Tiff and Carla, Antonia became one of my favorites, and I really, really loved her fighting spirit, her humor, and her passion. She’s a cool girl! And I liked that although Blais and Michael both thought they were better than her, they still gave Antonia respect, and they seemed genuinely emotional when she was cut.

So the head-to-head competition was set up for the finale: The loud, somewhat obnoxious, brassy Italian (Mike) versus the tightly-wound, neurotic ginger Richard Blais. I think Blais probably was considered the “favorite” coming in, but Mike had all of the momentum. The challenge was Restaurant Wars – Richard and Mike had to set up their concept restaurant, and create a four-course tasting menu. One of my favorite parts of the finale was how Richard and Mike had to choose their sous chefs – all of the season’s competitors came back and had a half an hour to create an amuse bouche for Richard and Mike to blindly taste-test and choose. Mike ended up with three girls as sous chefs, and I believe he ACTUALLY made a Charlie’s Angels reference!

Re: the food. I actually thought both men created interesting dishes, and I enjoyed seeing both of them deal with the reality of being in charge. Richard’s neurotic tendencies allowed him to do seemingly everything at once, while Mike seemed to be barking orders at everybody and everything. Honestly, though, both seemed like good bosses, and there were no major meltdowns or anything. I also love that Blais changed his icky-looking foie gras ice cream (blech) half-way through when he realized the first batch wasn’t really working. It showed that he could change mid-stream, and I think it helped him in the end. Here are the final dishes (via The Chicago Tribune)

Richard Blais:
Amuse: Raw oyster with creme fraiche pearls and salsa verde
First course: Raw hamachi with fried veal sweetbreads, garlic mayonnaise and pickled celery
Second course: Pork belly, black cod cutlet, bone marrow, beets, brussels sprouts and kumquat
Third course: Beef short rib with mushrooms, red cabbage marmalade and celery root horseradish puree
Dessert: Cornbread with foie gras ice cream and whipped mango

Mike Isabella:
First course: Spiced beet salad with mozzarella, truffle & chocolate vinaigrette
Second course: Halibut with kumquat marmalade cauliflower puree and pancetta crumbs
Third course: Braised pork shoulder with pepperoni sauce, roasted cabbage and turnips
Dessert: Rosemary caramel custard and pine nuts with citrus, celery and apple

Anyway, both men seemed to do really, really well, and from the comments from the judges, I really thought they were going to give it to Mike. I was just as shocked as Richard when Padma called his name. Mike looked disappointed, but I also got the sense of… how do I put it? Mike could not win and he would be fine. If Richard didn’t win, I think he would have been a mess. Anyway, Richard’s emotion got me. When a ginger weeps, I weep. I kind of love him.

I also ended up watching the first half of the live special after Top Chef, and Richard and Mike were the guests. I was glad to see that both of them were in such good spirits, and that the two men genuinely seemed happy for each other and quite friendly. It honestly seemed like they were two dudes who had a lot of respect for each other, and honestly got along really well. Mike even has his own restaurant now!