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Brooke and her husband share an unusual relationship in that they met when he worked for her. As romance blossomed, they wound running a pair of restaurants together. I imagine that the division between their personal and work lives is non-existent. The two of them relish an opportunity to have a romantic dinner to honor Brooke’s achievement on Top Chef. She does state that she expects Kristen to be her opponent at the end, which is an interesting insight as to who she views as the best contender other than herself this season. Kristen and Brooke need to go into business together.

During this meal, they are met by Roy Choi, who had judged Brooke’s dish in the most recent episode. Several months have passed for them, though. Brooke states her concern about the lack of preparation but Choi and her mentor, Sang Yoon, are used to this sort of poor-mouthing from their friend. They reinforce what she already knows, that Brooke is the favorite of the remaining players.

Another abrupt edit shows Brooke and Sheldon reintroducing themselves as they drive to Craft in Los Angeles. Brooke will have the home field advantage in the finale as a resident of the city. I particularly like that Top Chef: Seattle will, despite the title, finish the season where it started. In the first episode, Tom Colicchio tested applicants such as John Tesar at Craft. Tonight, a similar request will be made of the three remaining players. And yes, now is the time when the third player is revealed.

As expected, Kristen walks through the door as the champion of Last Chance Kitchen. Well done, anal-retentive Top Chef fan who painstakingly examined every frame of footage to discover her identity! Sheldon and Brooke demonstrate no surprise as Kristen re-enters. Everyone knows that she was at worst co-favorite at the time of her unfair elimination.

Sheldon is now dropped to third in the power rankings. All of the accolades from Food & Wine Magazine and James Beard mean nothing relative to his placement among the women, both of whom outperformed him all season. The question becomes whether Sheldon can achieve an upset. If not, we will in fact have the second female winner of Top Chef. That is the expected result in my estimation.

There is no Quickfire challenge in this episode. Instead, Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi reveal the details of the Elimination challenge. When Craft opens in three hours, the chefs will be preparing the meals. The trio of finalists is required to prepare an appetizer, a main course and a dessert. Wait, did I say finalists? That’s not right. This is not the final meal of the season. Instead, someone will be eliminated and the final two players will compete next week in the finale. I really need to pay more attention to the TV listings. This stupid Save a Chef/Last Chance Kitchen stuff has had me confused all season long. We are not at the end, after all. I apologize for the mistake in last week’s Power Rankings.

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