First of all, I was literally stunned by Stephen, he was a completely different person! He spoke and acted with true compassion and humility and I almost wanted to like him, and in a small way, I wished that he was still part of the show. Although all I have to is look back on his attitude and performance and it reminds me as to why he is gone. There may be hope for Stephen yet in this industry.

With Lee Anne out (my previous choice), I would like to see Harold become Top Chef as he seems the most "balanced" of the remaining three. By balanced I mean his cooking, inventiveness, professionalism, demeanor, leadership and all other aspects that, I think, would make him a great restaurant entrepreneur.

Tiffani is an excellent cook, but her attitude really does suck and when it came back to bite her at the reunion show, she literally attempted to run away from it. Plus we know that she does not play well with others in the kitchen which is a major requirement for a successful restaurant.

Dave is a very good cook and has a great attitude, but his dishes are just not innovative enough to distinguish themselves in my opinion. He already has a catering business and I think this experience will make him and his business that much better.

Next week will be quite interesting to see who goes in the opening elimination round. I suspect that it will be Dave since he seems to crack under pressure, but who knows? I called Lee Anne as Top Chef a few weeks back, but now she's gone.

As they say: "It is what it is." ;)

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Although I have found the show interesting to watch I find it hard to beleive that these are the best contestants they could come up with for a show titled "Top Chef".
A nutritionist, a caterer, a model/cook, hotel line cooks and lets not forget the wine guy who could never seem to stike a balance between portion and pizzaz. Your telling me that these people are "Top Chef" material?
The only ones in my opinion who even resemble a "Top Chef" are all the ones with legitimate restaurant cooking experience. Lee Anne, Harold and lets not forget Tiffani who most people may not like, she has the demeanor and talent to be a "Top Chef". Although she will have to learn to play better with other cooks. I predict and hope that Harold will win.
I also hope that the next show...if there is one...will seek out legitimate talent and not just settle for the typical, quirky, reality show characters that apparently the producers did for their first season.
And no matter on turns out to be "Top Chef" that they don't go the way of another famous culinary reality show victim, Rocco, and just have their "15 minutes of cooking fame".
After putting their personal and professional lives on the line they certainly deserve more.

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Patrick, I figured all along that the casting will improve. It's got to be hard to get contestants for first runs of reality shows. (If you look on Craig's list in NYC, SF, or LA, there's occaisionally these posts where they beg for people to come be contestants for some reality show or another.) I bet it was hard to find the 12 they got. I imagine that after this season, a higher caliber of player will apply, though I hope they don't get rid of the diversity of backgrounds.

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I haven't watch Top Chef and won't. I watched enough of these Bravo "reality" shows to see that they're utterly manipulated and only commercials with a thin veneer of programming to get people sucked in to all the product placement and product/restaurant launches.

Fie on all of it!

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I have enjoyed this show although I sort of happen on it because I haven't nailed down a time slot for it on Bravo.

If I were a restaurant owner, the last person I would hire would be Tiffani. She is so abrasive and confrontational, so full of herself that frankly her cooking skills and organization just wouldn't matter. You would have a turnstile of wait staff going out the door. Harold is my choice. Apparently, he comes from the real world, not one he has invented. Dave is a little unstable and a busy kitchen isn't a place for theatrics or hysterics in my opinion.

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I have enjoyed this show although I sort of happen on it because I haven't nailed down a time slot for it on Bravo.

If I were a restaurant owner, the last person I would hire would be Tiffani. She is so abrasive and confrontational, so full of herself that frankly her cooking skills and organization just wouldn't matter. You would have a turnstile of wait staff going out the door. Harold is my choice. Apparently, he comes from the real world, not one he has invented. Dave is a little unstable and a busy kitchen isn't a place for theatrics or hysterics in my opinion.

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Actually, Nicole W, what I found hilarious was that Stephen said that 13% of restaurants were fine dining, and other other 77% weren't. For a guy in the top three percentile of everything he does (his words), he's not great with the math.

And I totally miss him. I loved the transformation and it makes his previous behavior all the more endearing. I wish he had a show on the Food Network instead of that moron they picked.

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I have not yet seen the reunion show -- my 8-year-old daughter and I watch the show together on Saturday evenings, when it's at a more compatible hour on the east coast. It's the only show that she and I can both watch and truly enjoy together, and for that I am thankful.

And I wish they had eliminated Tiffani instead of LeeAnne. Tiffani has apparently never done anything wrong ... that's just wrong.

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I think Tiffany is getting a bad rap. I have been in the industry for many years and have endured the excruciating large and infallable egos of many non top chef as well as thoise I would view as conteders for Top Chef. Having said that, I think Tiffany's charactor is consistant with many chefs I have worked with ( 4 and five star chefs). I believe that her personality would not be as offensive to our senses if she were a man. Her skill and talent allowed her to get to the final three. Let us give credit where credit is due. The woman is not vying for the Top June Cleaver position. This is not a personality contest.

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I think Stephen redeemed himself nicely. And I think that throughout this series, Andrea has handled herself with as much class and dignity as anyone I've witnessed on reality television. That's not easy, when you have zero TV experience and suddenly the cameras are taping 24/7 for producers who have a vested interest in making you look bad. So props to Andrea.

Tiffani definitely got a bad rap, which began early in the series when Lee Anne asked for an extra minute to finish her dish. Tiffani might have been the only person to object, but she was absolutely right: That's why you have a time limit. Lee Anne fed the camera a line about how Tiffani shouldn't take the competition so seriously, about how she should just sit back and enjoy the experience -- but that's bunk. There's $100,000 at stake, and these chefs signed up to compete. I didn't notice Lee Anne wanting to bend any rules for Stephen when he used fresh basil.

I didn't like the way Tiffani handled herself during the reunion. She should have just admitted that she lied to Miguel, and her excuse about "unfamiliar equipment" was lame. But there's no way that, throughout the preceding episodes, she was more provocative or controversial than Stephen; and I wonder if Dave's near-violent outbursts toward her weren't inspired partly by his resentment that gay media has seemed more interested in profiling Tiffani (who identifies herself as bisexual) than him.

Harold should win. Tiffani did get a bad rap, and a lot of what she said is right: But she's naive in thinking that cooking ability is the sole attribute that makes a top chef. You also have to be a leader and inspire others; and in those respects, Tiffani has a lot to learn. And Dave is a drama-queen debutante, an absolute basketcase who has no business in a professional kitchen. I think Harold versus Lee Anne might have been a solid match-up -- but among the final three, there's no question that Harold should win.

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In response to Tara's defense of Tiffani and criticism of LeeAnne, let us not forget that LeeAnne's oven was turned off or down......she was sabotaged, in effect. I would have had no issue with her taking an extra minute from the next night's time limit to make up for the time she was robbed by someone accidentally (I doubt) or purposefully turning off her oven. Whatever happened, it wasn't Tiffani's place to school a fellow chef.......she was a tremendously disrespectful. If anyone should've lambasted LeeAnne, it should've been one of the judges, it wasn't Tiffani's place and I don't blame LeeAnne for resenting her for speaking to her as if she were in grade school.

I do not believe Dave is as dramatic as he came across. We all know that this show is first and foremost a vehicle for entertainment.....period. Someone has to be shown as the drama queen, the villain, etc. Given the stress and time constraints, it is somewhat surprising you don't see more contestants in drama mode.

I think all three finalists are competent chefs, as for who is "Top Chef" in my mind, that would have to be Harold. He can bring the skills and has the right attitude to win.

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I can't believe people thought Stephen's apology was genuine. Did you all not see how he was drinking that bottle of wine he was holding. After years in F & B I know when someone is "tipsy"..... That is were Stephen's apology came from. I don't mean deep down he didn't want to apologize, but shame on Bravo! for having to get people intoxicated to get a reunion show.

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I agree with Stephen's observations (Stephen the contributor to this site, note Stephen the Top Chef participant). Tiffani had every right to complain to Lee Ann about going over the time limit. DianaMc is right also. Why didn't the judges say anything? Also have to agree with Tara. Remember watching "The Restaurant". Seems like in most restaurants in New York, the cooking staff isn't chit-chatting with each other, and the atmosphere is kind of intense - sort of Tiffani-like, no? Finally it was a disappointing last episode (except for Lorraine Bracco's welcome comments spoken in her heavy New Yawk brawl). Really what were the producers thinking? Let's decide who the Top Chef is by making Tiffani dependent on a guy who has for not one episode failed to express his total disdain for her. Harold is probably a fantastic chef, and seems like a great guy, and I'm happy for him, but was the element of "fairness" present in this "competition"?

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