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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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.




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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.


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