The beefy duel on Miami’s white, sandy beaches is over and Spike Mendelsohn, the funky-hat–wearing contestant on Top Chef season four and proprietor of D.C.’s Good Stuff Eatery, lives up to his burger-flipping promise. His Colletti’s Smokehouse burger—an ensemble of a beef patty topped with applewood-smoked bacon, Vermont cheddar cheese, chipotle barbecue sauce and tempura-fried Vidalia onions—handily bested 21 other chefs’ patties in a contest of meat, smoke and greasy fingers. The event, hosted by Food Network royal highness Rachael Ray, attracted 1,800 carnivorous guests who scarfed down every manner of burger, from chef Michael Psilakis’s lamb version, to the meat and mushroom Half Stack from Shake Shack, to a vegan entry from Napa. The teeming hordes were punctuated by an impressive roster of culinary celebs, including Marcus Samuelsson, Tom Colicchio, Anne Burrell, Alex Guarnaschelli and Guy Fieri, who couldn’t resist America’s favorite primordial comfort food. But even Iron Chefs like Bobby Flay and Masaharu Morimoto were unable to catch Spike, who looked downright beatific upon winning.—Michael Anstendig