Rick Bayless eviscerates a pig.

The final chapter in Top Chef Masters‘ first season came to a close last night. Hate us if you will, but if you read spoilers early on in the season, you’ll be either happy or pissed  to know that said rumors were indeed true, and we’re happy for Illinois farmers. Here’s how it went down:

The Masters were given a single task—cook a four-course autobiographical meal: the first course representing their first food memory, second being the experience that made them want to become a chef, then the opening of their first restaurant, and finally where they’re headed in the future. For judging, they brought back Tom, Padma and Gail, the previous Top Chefs, and the original Masters judging trio of Greene, Oseland and Rayner. Read more »

Lo didn't even see it coming.

Last night, on the penultimate episode of Top Chef Masters, we watched with glee as chefs Hubert Keller, Anita Lo, Michael Chiarello and Rick Bayless competed to win another ten grand for their respective charities, and for the glory of being crowned Top Chef Master.

Chiarello emerged victorious from the blindfolded Quickfire Challenge (a test of the chefs’ palates), correctly identifying seven ingredients. Lo and Bayless could ID six, while Keller named just five. For the win, Chiarello was awarded the first choice of sous chefs for the elimination round, in which the contestants had to cater outdoor buffet tables for 200 “Hollywood insiders.” Read more »

With last night’s episode, the journey to the Top Chef Masters finale reached the halfway point. If last week’s preview was any indication, we’re in for a dazzling display of that good ol’ reality-TV drama. But more on that later. The five remaining chefs—Hubert Keller, Anita Lo (above), Michael Chiarello, Rick Bayless and Art Smith—started off the episode with a Quickfire Challenge from season three: make a gourmet burger. The judges were Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me, Sang Yoon of Father’s Office in Santa Monica and former Top Chef competitor Spike Mendelsohn of Good Stuff Eatery in D.C.

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Anita Lo is the only chef representing New York in tomorrow’s finale of Top Chef Masters. And really, who better than Lo—student of David Bouley, Guy Savoy and David Waltuck, culinary mastermind of Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, and owner of the iconic and recently incinerated Annisa—to carry the crown home for the Big Apple? The chef took a break from rebuilding her baby from scratch to talk to the Feed about her experiences on Masters and the fate of Annisa. Read more »

Anita Lo, hometown hero

Last night kicked off the four-part finale of Top Chef Masters, with chefs Art Smith, Rick Bayless, Hubert Keller, Suzanne Tracht, Michael Chiarello and NYC’s own Anita Lo (come on, we got only one in there?!?) competing for $100,000 for the charity of their choice.

The quickfire had the chefs competing in the always fun to watch mise en place relay race, split into teams of three, Team Salt (Lo/Keller/Bayless) vs. Team Pepper (Chiarello/Smith/Tracht). Colicchio made a special appearance to introduce the challenge, noting that it would be especially tough for these chefs since prep work is usually done by sous chefs. The teams were pretty much neck and neck until Bayless, who used to teach pastry, murdered Smith in the final leg—separating and then beating egg whites so they held upside down for five seconds. As a result, Team Salt received five points.

For elimination, the masters had the difficult task of re-creating each other’s signature dishes: Keller’s lobster and truffle cappuccino with corn madeleine; Smith’s seared grouper, which he made sure to mention that President Obama just loved; Lo’s seared scallops with sea urchin, potato puree and bacon; Bayless’s rack of lamb with pasilla chilies; Chiarello’s fennel pollen and balsamic quail, and Tracht’s chopped sirloin with fried egg.

Joining the judges were former contestants Rick Moonen, Ludo Lefebvre, Elizabeth Falkner, Chris Lee, Mark Peel and Michael Cimarusti. Lo received an almost perfect score (24 out of 25 stars!) for her dish of corn chawanmushi, champagne gelée and a lobster-knuckle biscuit sandwich, making her the front-runner going into next week’s challenge. Bayless (23 stars) and Keller (21 stars) also received top honors, while Chiarello (18 1/2 stars) was knocked for lack of seasoning and undercooked lamb, and Smith (15 stars) took a hit for the overcooked egg inside his undercooked ground lamb. With 14 1/2 stars, Tracht—for serving cold fish due to plating way ahead of time—got the boot.—Zachary Feldman

Next week: The remaining five masters cook for—why the hell not—Zooey Deschanel!

Jonathan Waxman makes ladies weak in the knees. (Photo courtesy NBC Universal)

Love was in the air on last night’s Top Chef Masters. Though, we should have known something was awry the minute Art Smith (most notably Oprah’s chef) stepped into frame. Smith was joined this week by Michael Cimarusti of Providence in L.A., Roy Yamaguchi (Roy’s)—whom James Oseland described as “the king of fusion”—and NYC’s own Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto. Critics for the episode were Gail Simmons, Gael Greene and James Oseland.

The quickfire was a throwback from Top Chef season three, wherein the chefs were given an aisle of the supermarket to shop for ingredients with a budget of $20. Smith gaily laughed at the notion, and then started name-dropping it like it was hot, listing a host of VIPs he’d cooked for including Julia Child and the King of Sweden. Read more »

The many faces of Top Chef Masters' judge James Oseland.

Last night’s Top Chef Masters featured restaurant-chef-cum-TV-chef-cum-restaurant-chef Michael Chiarello; Nils Noren of the French Culinary Institute (holla!); Lachlan Patterson of Frasca Food and Wine in Boulder, Colorado; and Rick Moonen of RM Seafood in Las Vegas, all reinterpreting classic junk foods and cooking a miniature three-course menu for 100 guests. Read more »

You try cooking with a lobster claw for a hand. (Photo: Kelsey McNeal)

Last night’s Top Chef Masters was everything a boy adventurer could ever want from a reality cooking TV program. For starters, we had special guest and magic enthusiast Neil Patrick Harris (better known as Doogie Howser, M.D., or that guy who snorted coke off a stripper’s ass in Harold & Kumar), plus an appearance by magician and NPH’s best friend, Ed Alonzo, a.k.a. Max of the Max from Saved by the Bell (milk shake, two straws—anyone?). Oh, and John Besh tried to make tableside horseradish and crème fraîche sorbet. Read more »

The judges get snacky on Top Chef Masters.

Last night’s installment of Top Chef Masters featured the culinary handiwork of Wilo Benet, “Puerto Rico’s first celebrity chef,” according to Tom Colicchio; Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago; Cindy Pawlcyn, chef-owner of Mustards Grill in Napa; and Ludo Lefebvre of Ludo Bites in L.A. Is it just us or does it seem like every week there’s always one “celebrity chef” to three lesser-known toques? Read more »

Tracht could not be more excited about her victory!

The second episode of Top Chef Masters gave us some hope for the show’s dubious future, but then again, it could’ve just been our mix of enjoyment and awe at the ease with which Wylie Dufresne—he of the hydrocolloids and mutton chops—has mastered the use of the word fuck (thus proving he’s a New Yorker through and through). Competing with Dufresne were San Francisco’s Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake and Orson restaurant (and TC season two judge), Graham Elliot Bowles of Graham Elliot in Chicago and Suzanne Tracht of Jar in Los Angeles. How did they do? Read more »