Top Chef Boston Recap: Season Finale

By Jason Lee

February 16, 2015

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

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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.”



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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.


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