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Top Chef<\/a><\/p>\n The Final Toast<\/p>\n \n Season 23<\/p>\n Episode 14\n <\/p>\n \n Editor\u2019s Rating<\/p>\n 3 stars<\/p>\n ***\n <\/p>\n \n Photo: Paul Cheney\/Bravo\n <\/p>\n Well, that was a nice full-circle finale of Top Chef, wasn\u2019t it? Not super memorable but also not egregiously misjudged, it was a showcase for three chefs who seemed evenly matched, if not quite operating at the extreme highs of previous seasons\u2019 competitors. Rhoda\u2019s ultimate win after her Last Chance Kitchen elimination wasn\u2019t without bumps; I really think she should have gone home for that meringue dish<\/a>, and I think she should have split that tostada money<\/a> with Sherry. Within this meal, though, she served a number of interesting, unexpected dishes that required real technical proficiency and honored her family and her background. For a long time in the finale, I thought that Sherry was getting the winner\u2019s edit, and hearing Rhoda\u2019s name was a real surprise. Good for her!<\/p>\n Before the winner\u2019s announced, this is a fairly straightforward episode: over seven hours of planning and prep, a special dinner where the contestants\u2019 family members show up, and the final Elimination Challenge service itself. Nothing majorly dramatic happens, no one flames out in the kitchen, no dish is an absolute failure. Sieger\u2019s here, and there\u2019s no discussion of his meltdown<\/a> at Judges\u2019 Table! Unfortunately, there isn\u2019t an aspect of the finale that strongly references the Carolinas setting. It\u2019s a fine episode but a somewhat forgettable one, and I wish there had been something to tie it back to the season\u2019s location aside from the chefs staying put rather than traveling to an exotic destination, as they have in seasons past. (More evidence for people assuming the series\u2019 budget was cut this season.) I know that finale episodes are usually pretty flexible and generous in letting the contestants do whatever they want. But in a season that felt so infrequently interested in the Carolinas overall, requiring use of, like, even one Carolinas-specific ingredient would have been a welcome way to acknowledge these two states. Oh well.<\/p>\n The episode begins with Rhoda, Sherry, and Laurence walking across the Mile High Swinging Bridge<\/a> on North Carolina\u2019s Grandfather Mountain (nope, nope, could not get me on that thing, nope) and meeting Kristen and Tom, who tell them that the Elimination Challenge will be a four-course progressive meal that needs to be inspired by the chefs\u2019 own lives. Each course should be a toast to someone or something that has had an impact on them, and the chefs will have $2,000 to shop, five hours to prep that day, and two hours the next day. They\u2019re then randomly assigned to previous finalists, who will serve as mentors and provide feedback on their ideas. (How long did this \u201cmentorship\u201d last, 15 minutes?) Top Chef: Chicago winner Stephanie Izard talks to Laurence, Top Chef: Kentucky and Top Chef: World All-Stars finalist Sara Bradley talks to Sherry, and Top Chef: Colorado winner Joe Flamm talks to Rhoda. Stephanie cautions Laurence about time, Sara cautions Sherry against serving a dish with a duo of proteins because the judges will inevitably critique one against the other (advice that Sherry does not take, although it works out fine), and Joe encourages Rhoda to stick to her no-dessert plan because her progression makes sense without it. Is Rhoda just not a dessert person after the disaster with the meringue? Seems like it.<\/p>\n Speaking of the disaster with the meringue, Sieger\u2019s back! Sherry\u2019s advantage from winning the penultimate Elimination Challenge is that she gets to pick her sous-chef from the three most recently eliminated chefs, and she chooses Anthony. She then chooses Rhoda to pick next, and Rhoda picks Sieger. (That long hug they share and their overall flirty energy \u2026 yes, I think all the commenters Picking Up on a Vibe were correct.) That leaves Laurence with Jonathan, and he\u2019s fine with it. The energy of these duos is interesting. Sieger is doing a really great job keeping Rhoda on task (he\u2019s the one who catches that she didn\u2019t have enough butter in her cart), and Laurence is asking Jonathan for advice on how to cook duck because, as we know, he didn\u2019t go to culinary school and he\u2019d like some advice. (Unfortunately, Laurence and Jonathan end up screwing up the duck.) But Sherry isn\u2019t allowing any room for Anthony to have input on her dishes. She has a plan, and she\u2019s treating him truly like an assistant. When Jonathan asks Anthony to blink twice if he\u2019s okay, I understood where the concern came from. I also get where Sherry\u2019s headspace is at, though. She\u2019s in the final and Anthony isn\u2019t. Would taking his advice be prudent or practical? Arguably not.<\/p>\n Also similar between Rhoda and Laurence are their approaches to their progressive meals. They\u2019re both taking a lot of inspiration from family members, like Rhoda\u2019s dad and Laurence\u2019s\u00a0mom, who ran a Cantonese bakery. Rhoda and Laurence are also both making versions of congee. In contrast, Sherry\u2019s meal is more weighted toward the Michelin-starred restaurants where she\u2019s worked. (Which was Sherry\u2019s M.O. in the beginning of the season, too; she leaned a lot on her pedigree before switching to cooking more Brazilian food.) To that end, Sherry\u2019s loading up on high-end ingredients; I laughed a lot at her two gigantic carts full of ingredients as she boasted to Anthony, \u201cWe have money!\u201d Why not live large on Top Chef\u2019s cash? I would! Anyway, everyone\u2019s prep goes mostly okay, with intermittent hiccups for Laurence and Jonathan (who decide to sous-vide their duck early, which seemed to dry it out) and for Sherry (who after their first prep changes around some of the dishes and comes in on the day of service with new instructions for Anthony). And it\u2019s very emotional when Kristen, Gail, and Tom reveal to the chefs that they have visitors from home: Sherry\u2019s older sister Meire, Rhoda\u2019s younger sister Katrina, and Laurence\u2019s wife Rary. For dinner the night before the final cook, they each make a dish \u2014 Meire makes picanha steak; Katrina the Filipino stew kare-kare; and Rary a Malagasy curry from Madagascar, where she\u2019s from \u2014 and talk about why each of their relatives deserves to win. Everyone gets teary, and Rhoda, Sherry, and Laurence vow that they\u2019re going to try even harder.<\/p>\n Service is the next day, and here\u2019s what the chefs serve for their progressive menus to a number of guest diners including their mentors, Food & Wine magazine EIC Hunter Lewis, and chefs Eric Ferguson, Camari Mick, Nok Suntaranon, Brandon Jew, and Val Cantu. (The latter two are the only official guest judges this episode.)<\/p>\n Rhoda:<\/p>\n \u2022 First course: Roasted sweet potato with miso butter, fresh uni, and charred sweet-potato leaves\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Second course: Abalone lugaw (Filipino rice porridge) with abalone and liver mousse<\/p>\n \u2022 Third course: Tortang talong (Filipino grilled-eggplant omelet) with XO sauce, vinegar, crispy pork belly, chili, and fish sauce<\/p>\n \u2022Fourth course: Braised short rib with liver sauce and vegetables<\/p>\n Sherry:<\/p>\n \u2022 First course: Moqueca (Brazilian seafood stew) with deep-fried frogs\u2019 legs, langoustine, chayote, zucchini, and shiitake mushrooms\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Second course: Potato dumpling with pig-ear broth, matsutake mushrooms, and pickled hon-shimeji mushrooms<\/p>\n \u2022 Third course: Tournedos Rossini with braised beef tongue, Carolina Reaper leche de tigre, and seared foie gras<\/p>\n \u2022 Fourth course: Hominy porridge with corn-husk ice cream, toasted Brazil nuts, candied peanuts, and candied ginger <\/p>\n Laurence:<\/p>\n \u2022First course: Pork and century-egg congee and youtiao (fried Chinese dough)<\/p>\n \u2022 Second course: Trio of dim sum, including a daikon cake with black garlic hoisin, lobster sticky rice with XO sauce, scallop and shrimp roll with fresh tofu skins<\/p>\n \u2022 Third course: Seared duck breast with sorghum glaze, fermented tofu, hoisin, and duck broth\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2022 Fourth course: Broken birthday cake with peaches and caramelized white-chocolate cream <\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot that the judges like. Tom loves Rhoda\u2019s pairing of sweet potato and urchin, calling it something genuinely new. Everyone adores Laurence\u2019s trio of dim sum, and there are no critiques of Sherry\u2019s beef-tongue dish. But there is a recurring issue for both Laurence and Sherry: They often plated too early. Laurence\u2019s congee thickened because it sat and wasn\u2019t served hot. Sherry\u2019s broth in her second course isn\u2019t warm, and Kristen criticizes the dish as \u201cchewy but slimy at the same time.\u201d Tom says Laurence\u2019s duck was overrested and got tough. And Sherry starts plating her dessert far too early \u2014 plating ice cream with seven minutes to go? It immediately melts, and although she has Anthony sprint the bowls into the walk-in freezer and then sprint them back out with one minute before service, the mistake was already made. No one gets a true scoop of ice cream.<\/p>\n At Judges\u2019 Table, it becomes clear that each chef had a little bit of a misstep somewhere. Sherry\u2019s dumplings, Laurence\u2019s duck, and Rhoda\u2019s eggplant (too mushy for some diners) are identified as the weakest links. At this point, I still thought Sherry might take it, because her beef-tongue dish was so faultless. But Tom seemed to have real issues with two things: Sherry\u2019s ice cream being melted, and Laurence\u2019s duck being so over. And once Kristen mentioned that Sherry had both her favorite and least favorite dishes of the evening, that felt disqualifying \u2014 as did Kristen\u2019s comment that at least Rhoda gave them dishes \u201cas intended.\u201d I\u2019ll be honest that this felt less like Rhoda won and more like Sherry and Laurence both lost, but hey. Rhoda was overwhelmed when they announced her name, and if this helps get her parents off her back about not having kids, more power to her.<\/p>\n \u2022 The dishes I most wanted to eat this episode: everything Laurence made, except for the duck, which I do not eat on principle of finding them too cute.<\/p>\n \u2022 I\u2019m sad for Laurence, who clearly put so much of himself into these dishes and really took the community theme of his final meal to heart. But I\u2019m also absolutely going to hit up his restaurant Rubato<\/a> if I\u2019m ever in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n \u2022 When Rhoda admitted that she wishes she felt the confidence in herself that her sister felt in her \u2026 that was a real Nadiya Hussain\u2013style moment<\/a> of relatable vulnerability, and it made me like Rhoda more.<\/p>\n \u2022 Of these three chefs, I absolutely see Sherry coming back for a future season. She wanted that win badly, and I think she was genuinely furious to have lost. Her smile after Rhoda\u2019s name was announced looked real tight.<\/p>\n \u2022 Thank you to the fantastic Caroline Framke for writing last week\u2019s recap<\/a>; you should absolutely read her piece on the Wachowskis\u2019 masterpiece Bound<\/a>. And thank you all for reading this season!<\/p>\n Sign Up for the Vulture Newsletter<\/p>\n Entertainment news, for the pop-culture obsessed.<\/p>\n Vox Media, LLC Terms and Privacy Notice<\/p>\n