My Top Chef

***Spoiler alert. Do not read this if you have not watched the Top Chef Finale and want to find out who wins on your own***

Last night was the season finale for Top Chef 5. I really like the competition shows on Bravo, except for the ones about modeling and hairdos. I'll even watch Top Design and Step It up and Dance from time to time. The Millionaire Matchmaker w/ Patti Stanger is pretty entertaining as well. The hotter the hostess though, the more likely I'm to watch it. C'mon, Padma and Heidi? I don't think there's a straight guy out there that wouldn't mind spending a night with them. I'm sure the show producers had people like me in mind when they were brainstorming about the show since the target audience for Bravo is clearly women, and you can clearly see this by the products they try to sell during commercials (a little marketing lesson for ya).

I really wish Padma had not mentioned that the winner of the first elimination challenge had gone on and win the Top Chef title except for one year in the first episode. For those that don't know who she's referring to, Tre from season 3 was the winner of the first elimination challenge but he went home for doing a dessert just like so many other contestants before him. I think he made like a bread pudding or panna cotta. My original pick was Stefan but it was fairly obvious that his confidence was getting the best of him and he feels that judging by the season overall he should be Top Chef and didn't do his best in the finale. Maybe Richard from Season 4 had the same attitude but at least he knows and even admits on air that he "choked."

As entertaining and profitable it is for me, here are some lessons to be learned from Top Chef:

#1: Mama's Boys Don't Get Far. Yes, I do bet on the shows. Each episode I bet on who's going home and who wins the challenge. One of theory I have that's worked pretty consistently is that if you start talking about your mother during the interview clips, chances are you are going home. This season the first time Fabio talked about his mother I bet on him going home even though he is clearly the producers' favorite and they get a lot of soundbites from him. He was on the bottom but he didn't go home. The very next episode he talked about his grandmother and I bet on him going home again w/ the same result. Again for the third time he mentioned about his mother and I bet on him again and finally this time he was on the bottom and actually DID go home. My theory is that production knows this is the last episode the person is going to be on so they dig up some archive interview footage of the contestants talking about their inspiration for being on the show or just something slightly more emotional for the audience to remember them by. Anyway, if any of you ever end up on these shows, don't mention your mother unless you don't want to win. For all purposes you are an orphan. Grow up, be your own man and not a mama's boy.

#2: Know Thyself and Be Thyself. Speaking of be your own man, last night Carla didn't win b/c she didn't do her food. She has the classical French training background and her food to me has a very rustic and down to earth feeling. Very soulful and loving. Reminds you of grandma's place in a way. However, she let her sous chef Casey's (who's from Dallas and very good looking) suggestions dictate her menu too much. She usually doesn't do these modern, space age techniques like cooking with liquid nitrogen but last night she did a sous vide, which is cooking in a vacuum bag and it didn't turn out well. She also took Casey's suggestions to suffle the cheese instead putting it on tart as her original plan. The oven temperature was too high and the cheese curdled instead. It's cool that she's open-minded and listened to suggestions. I really would've preferred that she stuck to her guns and trust in herself and what got her this far. There's no point in trying to be something you are not just to say fit in or for any reason really. This is not high school. This is life. Be who you are and not what other people wants you to be.

#3: It's All About Love. With Carla's cooking, it reminded me of a quote from Serendipity that the Greeks didn't write obituaries but instead just ask "did he have passion?" Now, I don't know if this is really true or some sentimental line the writers fed in to the movie but I still love the quote. A life without love or passion is really not one worth living at all to me. If you don't love your job, your major, your significant other, then what are you doing?? Why choose to make yourself suffer? Go see your advisor and switch to what you want to study, even if it's Art History. Break up with the cheerleader and go out with the girl next door who digs the same music you do. I don't know what else you live for if it's not for love.

#4: Nobody Loves A Cocky Bastard. Well, at least we know the judges or the show producers don't. The only time I can remember the bad boy winning was Jeffrey Sebelia from season 3 of Project Runway. You're good, we know it. Most important of all, it'll show in your work. Let your work do the talking for you. Marcel from season 2 of Top Chef was really talented, but it was almost as if he was set up to be the antagonist, the bad guy to the eventual winner Ilan. Stefan was clearly a gifted chef but his confidence got to a point to where he think he's got it in the bag and hearing him talk about how he "deserves" to win Top Chef when Padma asked each of the contestants why they should win almost made me sick. Play nice and confidence comes from within, you exude it, not by talking a big game.

#5: What Have You Done for Me Lately. You can tell that Stefan felt that over the entire season he was the best chef, but if we're judging by the entire season, there's no point to having a season finale. It's just how life is really. Doesn't matter if you are a rock legend or a coach who's won bunch of championships, you're judged by your performance NOW! There are no excuses to producing a flop or continuously losing games. You are only as good as your last hit, so you better keep on rocking.

#6: NO DESSERTS. This really doesn't have any life philosophy behind it, but seriously dessert has been the downfall to so many contestants and sent them home or in Stefan's case, cost him the title. I just don't see unless you've practiced or have got that one killer recipe in the bag why you would ever attempt to do a dessert on Top Chef. This is really more of a corollary to #2. Even though most people would consider going from appetizer to heavier plates and finish w/ dessert to be a full meal but you had the option to not do it. He jus turned out a mediocre plate instead of using that opportunity to showcase his abilities more. You had Richard going home this season for a banana s'more, Alex for a creme brulee, and obviously Tre for his bread pudding that I mentioned earlier.