1) That pictures says it all, doesn't it? Congratulations, Mike! I think it was the right result for several reasons. Mike presented the most ambitious menu. Bryan already has his own restaurant. Plus, I feel like he's already the chef he's going to be for the rest of his life, whereas Mike still has unexplored frontiers.
2) Looks like the perfect meal would have been:
- Kevin's first course: fried chicken skin (uh, YUM) with squash casserole and
tomato
- Mike's second: dashi-glazed rock fish with sweet and sour crab salad, squash
and lemon
- Bryan's third: venison saddle with sunchoke purée and orange-juniper sauce
- a tie between Bryan's dessert (white chocolate and dulce de leche
cheesecake and fig sorbet over dry caramel) for actual execution and Mike's
dessert (chocolate caramel coulant, butternut squash brûlée, ice-cream and
candied pumpkin seeds) for concept.
3) I think the match-ups worked against Bryan in the sense that his food probably wouldn't have come across as bland if it was all you were eating. But compared to Mike's complex flavors and Kevin's down-home boldness (he strikes me as a guy who seasons with a heavy hand), his dishes got a little drowned out.
4) I'm very sad about Kevin. I'm guessing the combination of Preeti's bumbling sous-cheffery and the weird ingredients in the mystery box really threw him off his game. But. Dude. Don't choose a slow-cooking method for your protein if you don't have enough time!! And what happened to all the fun sauces he made earlier in the season? Fact is, he coasted a little in these last two rounds and was scared to go outside his comfort zone.
5) I can't believe the final four accounted for 9 of 13 Quickfire wins and ALL the Elimination wins of the season (12 of 13 for the final three - another reason why it was right that Jen came in fourth). It was obvious from the start that some cheftestants would dominate, but that's pretty amazing.
And that's a wrap, folks!
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