Singapore Sling: Thoughts on the Season Finale of <i>Top Chef</i>

Um, yeah.

After a seriously contentious season of Top Chef, the Washington D.C.-set seventh season came to a close with a final showdown between Angelo, Kevin, and Ed in Singapore, amid a head-scratching judges' decision that made me question just what they were thinking... and what we'd seen throughout the course of the season as members of the home audience.

I watched the season finale earlier this week and had a very difficult time keeping my mouth shut about the winner and my intense disappointment over the outcome of the season. While the Singapore installments gave the series a much-needed jolt, it didn't remove the bad taste in mouth about this season as a whole nor the decision to crown a particular person the ultimate winner and bearer of the title of Top Chef.

(If you haven't already, head over to The Daily Beast to read my exclusive interview with Top Chef's executive producers, where we discuss my criticisms of the past season, what went wrong, and the winner revealed last night.)

So what did I think of the episode and the chef selected as the overall winner of this season? Let's discuss...

So the winner of this season of Top Chef is Kevin?!?! While he performed pretty well overall this season, he only won one Elimination Challenge over the course of the season and flew so far under the radar that I didn't even expect him to make the Final Four over the far superior Tiffany.

So what gives? What went down in Singapore that led to his dark horse being crowned the ultimate victor?

I had a sinking feeling that Angelo would be out of the running due to his sudden and inexplicable illness, as seen from the promos for this week's episode. While Angelo did manage to rally on the last day and present four courses for the judges, his performance was entirely dependent on that of sous chef Hung, who managed to do all of Angelo's shopping and prep ahead of time.

In fact, I felt that the sous chefs had a huge effect on the outcome of the Singapore culinary battle, given that winner Kevin managed to get none other than Michael Voltaggio to serve as his sous chef. Wait a second here. The winner of the last Top Chef, arguably one of the strongest chefs ever to play the game, was recruited as a sous chef for the final challenge that would decide the ultimate winner? How on earth is that fair?

Granted, Ed and Angelo also had winners to work with and Angelo's sous, Hung, is a workhorse of the highest order. He flies around that kitchen and can pull off the work of 50 chefs in about a few hours' time. But I've never been a fan of Ilan and I was surprised when he won his particular season. And Ed here seemed to have been undone a bit by Ilan, who kept offering his own opinions of what Ed should be doing but instead brought little more than a halfway decent sticky toffee pudding and salted whipped cream to the plate.

In any event, the final three chefs had to prepare an extraordinary four-course meal for their final challenge, one that comprised a vegetable course, a fish course, a meat course, and a--shudder--dessert.

So what did they make? Let's take a look:

Angelo:

First Course: pickled royale mushrooms, char siu bao pork belly, noodles, and watermelon tea
Second Course: sautéed rouget, olive oil-poached cuttlefish with "Asian Style" bouillabaisse
Third Course: sautéed duck breast and foie gras with marshmallow, daikon-ginger salad and a tart cherry shooter
Fourth Course: Thai Jewel: coconut-vanilla cream and crushed ice with exotic fruits, yam taro, and saffron syrup

Ed:

First Course: chilled summer corn veloute with fried black cockles and silan
Second Course: stuffed rouget and glazed slipper lobster, cuttlefish with zucchini pesto, toasted pine nuts
Third Course: Duck Two Ways: roasted breast and braised stuffed neck with baby spinach and duck jus
Fourth Course: sticky toffee-date pudding with fleur de sel crème Chantilly "a la Ilan"

Kevin:

First Course: eggplant, zucchini, and pepper terrine, tomatoes, jalapenos, and sweet soy reduction with ginger oil
Second Course: rouget, cuttlefish noodles, pork belly, cockles, slipper lobster, and cigala
Third Course: roasted duck breast with duck dumpling, caramelized bok choy, and coriander sauce
Fourth Course: Frozen Singapore Sling with tropical fruits

First, I do think it was a stroke of genius on the part of the producers to have the judges select the proteins for the chefs and require them to use them as part of the meal and highlight them accordingly. It put them on somewhat equal playing ground and challenged them to use these ingredients in innovative ways while still having them compete against one another using the same elements on the plate, just configured in their own inimitable way.

Second, I do think Kevin did some things right. While I question whether he was the best chef this season (a title I don't think is really warranted), he did--as Tom Colicchio put it--take the most risks. Or at least took one major risk that paid off. Whereas Angelo and Ed both used proteins in their vegetable first course--Angelo with pork belly and Ed with black cockles--Kevin created a purely vegetarian dish for his start that stood up to both of those dishes.

I do, however, wish that the judges had been more strict during the instructions and had said that it was to be a "vegetarian" rather than "vegetable" dish. I would have liked to have seen what each of them could have done without the use of proteins in their starters. Would it have changed the outcome? Who knows.

There were some interesting techniques in play here. Kevin's transformation of the cuttlefish into noodle-like ribbons, Ed's stuffing of the duck's neck, Angelo's watermelon tea and that cinnamon-spiced marshmallow, though the latter was less than successful, as was his bizarre decision to include that tart cherry shooter on the plate... and describe it as a palate-cleanser, which it was nothing of the sort whatsoever.

While the judges seemed to be enraptured by Kevin's deceptively simple Sinagpore Sling-inspired dessert, I thought that it was Angelo's "Thai Jewel" dessert, with its unexpected flavors of saffron, that was a far superior dessert, at least in terms of technique, execution, and presentation. Ed's dessert--Ilan's main contribution to the team--was a total disappointment. Sure, Gail said that it seemed to be in keeping with Ed's personality (and his somewhat disappointing attitude this week) that dessert was more or less an afterthought, but it's also the last thing that you're giving the judges in a competition to win $150,000. Why would you leave that for your sous chef to conceive and execute? It looked sloppy and homemade, rather than something you'd find in a fine dining establishment and it totally missed the point of including dessert as part of the dinner. The judges wanted to be wowed four times over. They didn't want a piece of sticky toffee pudding presented with very little thought or grace.

Each of the contestants had their high and low points in the final leg and, yes, you're only as good as your last dish. But I can't help but question the judges decision to award the win to Kevin when they only once picked him out as the strongest chef that week prior. Surely, there must be some thought to the overall performance, vision, and execution of the chefs when they make their way to the final judges' table. Or there should be, anyway. In the meantime, I can't help but feel frustrated both by the outcome and by the season at large. Here's to hoping that the producers can fix some of the issues that many of us have had with this season...

What did you think of the season as a whole? Did Kevin deserve to win over Ed and Angelo? Was the the strongest chef? Head to the comments section to discuss and debate.

Next week on Top Chef ("Reunion Special"), it's one last chance to catch up with the cast of the Washington, D.C. season before the series returns sometime next year with a new installment on Bravo.