Hosea, left, the Bush of this year's Top Chef, steals the title from Carla and Stefan.

Count ‘em! Season five of Top Chef is officially over, and thank goodness for that. We’re writing this season off as the clunker it so clearly was—which is a shame, since our city hosted the goddamn thing. This finale prompted a number of questions (and no, not just “Are Hosea and Leah together?”—that will get answered during next week’s reunion show), most pointedly: Is America ready for a black Top Chef? Or a European one for that matter? We got as far as an Obama, so why not a Carla? (True, Hosea’s a Member of the Tribe, but he’s no Rahm Emanuel.)

The final challenge was straightforward: cook the best three-course tasting menu of their lives. And to help them out, the producers brought back the last three runners-up. Hosea got lucky twice this episode, getting first pick of both the helping chefs (he chose Richard Blais from last year, while Stefan got Marcel Vigneron and Carla had Casey Thompson) and the curveball protein the judges threw at them at the last minute, which had to be incorporated into a passed hors d’oeuvre. Hosea chose redfish, and gave blue crab to Carla, saving the risky alligator for Stefan.

The finale meals were devoured by a lauded bunch at the famed Commander’s Palace restaurant in New Orleans. In addition to Tom, Padma and Gail, we had Hubert Keller, Susan Spicer, John Besh, Rocco DiSpirito (of perfect-penis fame), Toby Young, Branford Marsalis, Ti Martin and Tory McPhail of Commander’s Palace, and last week’s casualty, Fabio Viviani, who made a point of rooting for his European soulmate. Carla sadly listened too much to Casey and took herself out of the running with a too-tough sous vide New York strip and a curdled, unserviceable blue-cheese souffle. Though if there’s any justice in this cruel world, she’ll win Fan Favorite.

Between Hosea and Stefan, Colicchio thought Stefan’s squab with braised cabbage and schupfnudeln was the dish of the night, though the judges all agreed that the progression of Hosea’s courses was the most successful. And that’s how Hosea Rosenberg, a toothy bald giant from Colorado, won Top Chef V. We can only hope that next season will give us more, well, hope.—Zachary Feldman