Top Chef Boston Recap: Season Finale
By Jason Lee
February 16, 2015
BoxOfficeProphets.com

The best person won. The last three players were all deserving, though.

It’s finally Top Chef finale time, and I’m able to say something that I’m only able to say for about half of the Top Chef seasons: the two most deserving chefs will battle it out for the title. For my money, Greg and Mei have been the two chefs who most consistently put out solid dishes day in and day out, combining to win more than a third of all Elimination Challenges (two for Greg and three for Mei) and Quickfires (four for Greg and one for Mei).

In other words, this is gonna be good.

The episode kicks off with all the drama-mustering montages the Top Chef producers can muster. We get Mei and Greg talking about their time working under Top Chef winner Michael Voltaggio and renowned chef Jean George, respectively. Mei comments that Greg has won more challenges over the course of the season, but she’s now 10 times the chef she was when she started. Greg also acknowledges his early season victories, but notes that he struggled as the challenges (and competing talent) got tougher. He found his stride again in Mexico, though, and won’t be holding anything back.

We get a quick peek at how Greg and Mei reacted after being named in the final two. Mei is relieved after dodging elimination for the second episode in a row. With the finale ahead, “may the best man win,” she tells Greg.

Dayum, guuuuuuuuuuuuurl.

The next morning, the chefs rise before the break of down and slip into the SUV for a ride to who-knows-where. Before they know it, a partially-inflated hot air balloon appears in front of them. Their reward for making it to the top two (and transport for no apparent reason to where they’ll be given instructions for the finale) will be a hot air balloon ride over San Miguel giving them spectacular views of the city. While Greg is thrilled and having a blast, I’m thinking Mei might be a bit acrophobic - she doesn’t look entirely at ease.

As the balloon starts to descend, the chefs spot Tom and Padma standing in what appears to be a vineyard. Upon meeting up, Tom doles out details regarding the final challenge. “Tomorrow night,” he says, “the challenge is to create the meal of your lives.” Well, that’s straightforward and relatively constraint-free, as expected. He tells them that they’ll be asked to cook the best four dishes they can possibly cook, and should aim to leave the kitchen with no regrets.

Recognizing (as always) that the finalists will need a little bit of help, Padma brings out all of the eliminated chefs, from which the finalists will select sous chefs. At this point, I’m thinking that 75% of those chefs should just have slept in. Chefs like Aaron, Ron, Joy, and Stacy haven’t yet been picked as sous chefs by any of the finalists, and they sure as hell won’t be getting picked today.

Greg uses his first pick to grab Doug. While Doug’s TC credentials are clear, I wonder how motivated and or clear-headed he’ll be after his recent devastating elimination. Mei, predictably, goes with Melissa. “Duh, I want Melissa,” she says, explaining her selection. I laugh out loud.

As his second sous, Greg goes with George, who he praises for his grasp of flavor. Mei, in somewhat of a surprise choice, goes with Rebecca. Expounding on this selection, Mei tells us that she plans on making a dessert and wants Rebecca’s pastry skills in her kitchen. A smart, strategic choice.

Padma offers the closing instructions. The two teams will have an hour to shop and then five hours to prep and cook the next day. Mei will serve first, followed by Greg. The judging panel will be Padma, Tom, Gail, Hugh, and Richard Blais. Also in attendance will be a number of highly-respected chefs like Traci Des Jardins. There are audible gasps from the finalists as Padma reels off the names of the other diners. Mei says she’ll need to put out the best food of her life.

Greg and Mei immediately start discussing their menus on the way to the supermarket - clearly, they’ve already put a lot of thought into what they want to make. Greg notes that he did a lot of Asian dishes while in Boston, but has now become enamored with all of the Mexican ingredients he’s seen, tasted, and used during the finale. He’s going to make all new dishes with those ingredients for his final meal, displaying his diversity and showing that he’s not a one-trick pony.

As for Mei, she’s going to do dishes that represent her as a chef and showcase her Chinese heritage, while also integrating ingredients from Mexico. Additionally, in a HUGE risk, she’s making a dessert.

Alarm bells immediately go off in my head. Dessert has frequently been the downfall of great chefs - we’ve so often seen chefs doing all savory dishes triumphing over others who opted to do a dessert instead of another savory course. Mei acknowledges that dessert is not her specialty, but says that she worked the pastry station at Brian Voltaggio’s restaurant in preparation for the finale and got inspired. “It’s go time,” she says, “I’m ready to bang out a dessert.”

Oh boy.

Once the shopping is done, the sous chefs take responsibility for making dinner. Mei and Greg head out to the back patio to talk about their respective plans and menus for the finale. Mei notes that Greg, through his menu, is pushing himself in a different direction, doing mostly Mexican-inspired dishes. She knows that she’ll only be able to win by showcasing more flavor and technique.

Before we know it, the cooking has begun. Melissa starts breaking down some duck while Rebecca is tasked with dessert. Mei reminds the two that this has to be the best four-course meal of all of their careers. Over the season, Mei says, the judges have characterized her food as subtle and clean, but today she wants to feature bold flavors, the kind that the judges have not seen before from her.

Her first course will be an octopus dish reminiscent of what she used to eat at home. Her second will be a congee - a traditional Chinese rice porridge. She made a congee on the first episode of the season (in which she won the Elimination Challenge) but wants to do a more mature version that incorporates Mexican flavors. Her third dish will be duck with huitlacoche - the fungus that she used so well in the previous challenge. Then she’ll finish out with a huge, risky dessert course. She promises that it’ll be a “perfect example” of who she is as a chef and where she’ll be in the future. She’s not just a savory chef.

Greg starts his prep and cooking not soon thereafter. He posts pages of instructions on the wall for his two sous chefs - his strategy, he tells us, is to maximize both of their best talents. His first dish will be a grilled octopus prepared by George - Greg realizes that George over-charred his octopus in the challenge that sent him home, but knows George can handle this. Greg will follow that up with a shrimp dish with green chorizo, an ingredient he successfully incorporated in the chocolate Quickfire. His third dish will be striped bass that features spicy and sweet flavors. Finally, he’ll end with his “secret weapon”: an authentic Mexican mole. Wow. He certainly has cojones. Greg expresses his excitement about using all Mexican ingredients - he wants to live in the moment and says that his menu celebrates that sentiment. He’s not about to play it safe against Mei.

The diners arrive for Mei’s dinner. Gail is excited by her menu, which combines both Mexican and Asian sensibilities. Mei kicks things off with an octopus with fish sauce vinaigrette, an avocado-coconut puree, and herbs. She hopes the boldness of its flavors will “punch the judges in the face.” Gail finds it to be one of the most beautiful plates she’s ever seen and loves the bold, bright flavors contained therein. Hugh compliments the depth of the flavor he finds. Padma comments that it’s probably one of the most flavorful dishes they’ve gotten from Mei, and while Tom agrees, he finds the octopus a bit dry and overcooked.

Mei’s next dish is a congee with carnitas, scallion puree, hot sauce, Mexican peanuts, and an egg yolk. Again, it’s a beautiful dish. Padma finds it warm and gooey with a lot of flavor and says she likes it a lot more than Mei’s first dish. Tom calls it “really, really delicious, with perfect balance.” Hugh likes that it shows off Mei’s heritage.

As for her third dish, Mei worries that it’s a bit “out there” but believes it tastes great. She serves up duck with braised lettuce, kimchi butter, jicama, and huitlacoche. Upon first bite, Gail worried that the flavors would fight each other, but as she ate more, she found that they really went together nicely. Hugh, as has been his complaint all season, isn’t a fan on the rendering of the duck fat. Tom finds interesting moments in the dish and likes the use of jicama, but Richard says there’s too much huitlacoche for him.

In prepping Mei’s dessert, Rebecca sounds a note of alarm. The yogurt is too sweet. Mei almost freaks out. She adds additional lime elements and hopes that this will balance the dish out. Oh boy.

Meanwhile, back in the dining room, Tom isn’t a fan of Mei’s decision to do a dessert. “If I’m a savory chef,” he says, “I would go savory” for the last course. Padma agrees that doing a dessert is a big risk.

Mei finally brings out a strawberry lime curd with toasted yogurt, milk crumble, and yogurt-lime ice. Richard says that the dish is so beautiful to look at that he doesn’t want to touch it. As the diners dig in, Gail praises the toasted yogurt with its amazing, smoky flavor. Hugh loves the texture added by the milk crumbles. Tom stops all conversation by declaring that he has two things to say. “Number one, it’s the best dessert I’ve ever had on Top Chef. Number two, she was very smart in doing dessert.”

Wow. I’m stunned. Way to bring your A-Game in the most important challenge of the season. The best dessert ever on Top Chef. Again: wow.

The diners head over to Greg’s dining room and Gail immediately points out that Greg is not doing a dessert. Tom comments that he’s using all Mexican ingredients, though Greg typically skews Asian.

Greg also chooses octopus for his first dish - it’s a grilled octopus with prickly pear, xoconostle, passion fruit, and cashew milk. Richard loves the presentation, Padma dubs it “sublime,” and Tom marvels that Greg’s ability to look for inspiration and find it everywhere. He calls it a “powerhouse of a dish.”

Greg’s next course is a shrimp dish and he’s feeling confident. In particular, he likes the tang added by his use of crispy shrimp heads. He presents a shrimp broth with green chorizo, pickled nopales, and crispy shrimp heads. Hugh appreciates the crunch added by the shrimp heads but Gail expresses doubt about Greg’s inclusion of shrimp shells in the broth. Tom agrees and attributes this problem to Greg’s unfamiliarity with the ingredients. “Mei’s second dish was much better,” he comments.

Back in the kitchen, Greg is realizing that he has a potential catastrophe on his hands: he erred in cooking the carrot sauce for his fish dish. Specifically, he forgot to add vinegar and sugar to it. He proceeds to add sugar to the sauce, hoping to fix things, but then realizes that it tastes too sweet. He adds some salt and prays that the tomatillo sauce will balance things out.

Out in the dining room, he presents a striped bass with roasted carrots, radish, pineapple, and tomatillo. After a few bites, Tom notes that even though Greg chose not to make a dessert, his fish course “is sweeter than Mei’s dessert.” He doesn’t think it worked. Traci Des Jardins, on the other side of the dining room, says that this dish feels like it’s from a totally different chef than the one who prepared the previous two.

Reeling from his dish disaster, Greg knows that he needs to kick ass and believes that his mole will do it for him. He serves up a red mole with short ribs and agave sweet potato. It’s an instant hit. Padma praises the tenderness of the meat, Hugh describes the flavors of the dish as “spectacular,” and Tom says that it’s just “a really, really good dish, with depth of flavor,” perfectly cooked beef, and a great accompaniment of sweet potato. Gail notes that of all the dishes Gregory offered, the short rib with mole was the star.

With the eating complete, I tally up my own personal scorekeeping, which (like in Whose Line Is It Anyways?) is all made up and the points don’t matter. By my count, Greg wins the octopus battle in the first course, but Mei takes courses two and three easily. The fourth course seems close to a draw, but with Mei facing a much higher degree of difficulty. The right decision, it seems to me, would be to award Mei the title.

Everyone meets back up at Judges Table and the judges go down the line, course by course. Hugh calls Greg’s octopus dish an “ode to Mexico” and great overall. Padma loved it and Tom describes it as “absolutely stunning.” While Gail found that Mei’s dish took her breath away visually, Tom says that he found it “a bit on the dry side.” Gail admits that it was a bit chewy but says that she “dug it.”

As for Greg’s second course, Richard loves the idea of pairing shellfish with meat, but Padma says that she had a problem with his use of the shrimp shells, stating that she “still has a little shard sticking to the back of [her] throat.” Tom guesses that Greg would like to have that dish back because it “didn’t come together.” As for Mei’s congee, Hugh says it’s a “really great dish,” which told her own personal story. Gail loves that congee was the first and one of the last things she’s eaten from Mei.

Greg takes a pounding for his third course. Tom says he “got sweet, sweet, sweet . . . it ate very sweet.” Padma and Richard compliment Mei for incorporating new and innovative flavors in her duck dish, but Tom notes that as much as he liked it (and he did), it was her weakest of the night.

Finally, we have both chefs’ final courses. Padma calls Greg’s mole “outstanding,” Gail says that it was rich, and Tom says that Greg “edited it perfectly” and that he couldn’t get enough of it. Hugh calls it “perfection in cooking.”

As for Mei’s dessert, Padma calls it beautiful, Richard says that “everything that’s right about modern cuisine was in the bowl,” and Tom informs Mei that it was the best dessert he’s had on Top Chef and one of the best he’s ever had in his life.


Holy cow. That’s some high praise. And maybe this battle is closer than I thought it was.

The cheftestants head back into the Stew Room for the last time. “I’m sad about my soup,” Greg says. “I’m sad about my octopus,” Mei responds.

Final judging commences and Tom says that the panel needs to look at the dishes from start to finish, head-to-head. Greg wins the first course in light of Mei’s overcooking of her octopus. Mei wins the second, with Padma calling Greg’s use of shrimp shells a “fatal mistake,” and Gail calling Mei’s congee “perfect.” Mei also wins the third course. Though Gail found Mei’s dish a bit watery, Tom says that her duck was better than Greg’s fish.

“It looks like it’ll come down to the Fourth Course,” Padma concludes - a tough proposition given how strong both dishes were. Tom absolutely loved Mei’s dessert, calling its flavor and presentation “stunning.” Richard and Gail, though, both loved Greg’s mole.

Hugh says that both Mei’s congee and her dessert were “flawless.” Padma responds that both of the chefs’ fourth courses were flawless. Richard argues in Greg’s favor, saying that his menu displayed more inspiration, and Tom admits that this is “really close.”

It’s decision time. The two finalists are brought back out before an audience of their fellow cheftestants. Tom notes that all season long, Greg and Mei cooked surprising, stunning food, and says that he really enjoyed watching their young talent emerge. “You guys are the future,” he says, “you really are.”

And Top Chef for Season Twelve is… MEI. Wow. Congratulations to her. It’s 100% the right decision.

Mei, not an emotional person by any stretch of the imagination, starts to cry. Greg gives her a hug. Melissa comes over and embraces Mei - she’s crying, too. Tom comes over and tells her, “very well done, be proud of yourself.” Mei, in her final interview, says that her parents will be proud of her, Michael Voltaggio will be proud of her, but most of all, she’s proud of herself.

Within minutes, she has Michael Voltaggio on the phone to tell him that she’s won. This leads to the following, absolutely perfect piece of dialogue between the two of them.

Michael: Good job.

Mei: Chef, holy shit, I’m going to pass out.

Michael: Stop calling me, “chef.” You’re “chef” now. You’re the Top Chef.

Mei: Awwww, chef…

It’s a very moving moment. For all that Mei talks about her parents and their lack of support, in carving her own path in life, she did find one person who believed in her and did what he could do to help her succeed - and that’s Michael Voltaggio. I’m sure it means the world to her to have received those incredibly kind comments from him.

Back at Judges Table, Padma leads a toast in honor of Mei. “To Mei,” she says.

To Mei, indeed.