"TopChef" news and stories

We have to admit, it's been a rocky season. At first, we weren't quite sure if we were invested in the notion of "all star" cheftestants from seven seasons of our favorite cooking competition show. Many of these folks weren't tops among their season -- would the hunger to win be there? Would the competitive, overconfident, back-stabbing spirit thrive?

But as we settled in with a big glass of wine for the finale -- watching Richard Blais futz around with a gigantic canister of liquid nitrogen, Mike Isabella hone his super-rustic Italian flavors, and Padma fumble around with some awkward "live" interludes from the finale afterparty -- we got that warm, fuzzy Top Chef feeling just like we do during the best seasons, and realized just how far all our friends had come this year.

You see, at first, we weren't quite sure if the stakes were high enough, what with Jen's early-season walk-off, weeks of Jamie's "who gives a crap" performance, and Fabio's oh-so-canned judge flirting. And then the proverbial almost-ran chaff fell away from the Top Chef wheat, leaving only the ones who were in it to win it -- and that's when things got really interesting. Carla proved not only to be the mega-entertaining ex-model personality we knew her to be but also a stunning purveyor of comfort food. Antonia shone as a competitor worthy of being with the best (and, in a plot twist straight out of a soap opera, ended up being Mike's cousin!).

Luckily, some of those awesome finalists at least got to be sous-chefs for the finale, although the method for choosing them was a bit unorthodox: Each eliminated All Star had to make a dish for Richard and Mike to blindly taste. Though the matching dishes to their creators was fun (no one got who they expected!), in the end, the sous-chefs ended up playing less of a part than they have in previous seasons, save for Carla's slight overcooking of Mike's dessert, and Spike's invaluable -- if totally unsubtle -- reconnaissance work for Richard ("Thomas Keller loved it!").

Here's this week's installment of Slashfood's exclusive exit interviews with the latest "Top Chef All-Stars" contestant to get the boot. In an effort to prevent spoilers, we've included the text after the jump.

Oh, we could see it coming. And quite frankly, it was about time: A full Marcel meltdown. In a season full of overactive (mostly male) egos, the weasely little chef from season two has been tops on our list of Most Deserving of a Piping-Hot Serving of Humble Pie. And yet, he managed to survive the ax several times. We were starting to wonder if maybe we were being too harsh.

If overuse of food foam and the word bro were crimes punishable by law, however, Marcel would be given life without parole. And his interpersonal skills? We liken them to a three-year-old trying to share a Tonka truck at daycare. True, we admire his manic spirit -- but all too often, as Tom put it, "It's a weird energy" Marcel imparts.

Combine that energy with Restaurant Wars, and you have one hell of a super-sized episode. It was good to see our favorite cuss, Tony Bourdain, back, front and center, daring the chefs to butcher fish perfectly and cook only the leavings: heads, cheeks, skeletons, organs. This was a Quickfire the overconfident (but with the skills to back it up!) Dale cleaned up on, serving up not one but two dishes: a hearty bacon dashi made with cod collar, and a little fluke-backfin sashimi with fluke liver sauce. This provided one of the evening's choice Tony quotes: "Really dug that you used the liver, man!"

Spoiler alert: Winner and loser are revealed after the jump.

Here's this week's installment of Slashfood's exclusive exit interviews with the latest "Top Chef All-Stars" contestant to get the boot. In an effort to prevent spoilers, we've included the text after the jump.