grade episode Finally! It's Over

Recapped by Kim · Aired 2012-02-29 · S09E17

Paul and Sarah learn that their final challenge is to create a four-course tasting menu in the restaurant of their dreams. But first, there is a competition to be the sous-chefs for the finalists amongst some of the eliminated cheftestants, the last two out before the show started, and two professional chefs. Paul and Sarah taste the dishes and pick their sous chefs using those. Paul gets Barbara (one of the master chefs), Ty-Lor, Keith, and Chris Hollywood. Sarah gets Heather, Nyesha, Tyler (the weirdo who screwed up the butchering in the first challenge), and Grayson. They get six hours to prep on day one, three hours to cook on day two, and they have to serve a hundred people.

Sarah has to ride herd on Tyler, who didn't get eliminated first for no reason. He's really annoying and inefficient and keeps asking questions and making suggestions instead of just putting his head down and getting shit done. Lucky for her, the women on her team are incredible. Paul's team seems to be doing well until there is a crab problem and Paul has to rework one of his dishes. Luckily, he has shrimp as a backup and slides it in with no problem.

There are two sets of judges, and they rotate between the two restaurants.

Here are Paul's dishes:

First course: chawanmushi (Asian egg custard), edamame, pea shoots, and spot prawns. The first round of judges like the flavor profile and the texture, but the second rounds gets overcooked and Paul doesn't have any extra eggs to make a new batch.

Second course: grilled sea bass with clam dashi, pickled radishes, and mushrooms. The first round of judges think it's really beautiful, and Tom adds that it was well balanced and you can't fault it at all. The second round think it's cooked perfectly and has great crispy skin.

Third course: congee with scrambled eggs, uni, kale, and smoked albacore. The first round of judges think it's fine but not as interesting as the other courses, and doesn't fit as well into the menu. The second round think he's nailing contrast in texture.

Fourth course: coconut ice cream, puffed rice, kumquats, mangosteen, Thai chili foam, and jasmin gelee. The first round of judges think it's powerful, and that Paul knocked it out of the park. The second round of judges like it, but aren't sure about the puffed rice.

Here are Sarah's dishes:

First course: squid ink tagliatelle, spot prawns, and coconut. The first round of judges think it's delicious and perfectly pulled together.

Second course: rye-crusted Steelhead trout with fennel sauce, pickled beets, and gras pista (whipped pork fat). The first round of judges like the trout but think the beets taste raw and weren't pickled enough. Sarah's fiancé tells her that his fish had a bone in it, so she rushes to check the judges' portions before serving. None of them mention bones, so I guess it's fine, but Tom thinks it's underseasoned.

Third course: braised veal cheek with crispy veal sweetbreads. Sarah has a lot of doubts about it before sending it out, but the first round of judges seem to like it just fine. The second round think it's good, but needs some crunch.

Fourth course: hazelnut cake with candied kumquat and roasted white chocolate ganache. So I don't think she sent out the stupid ice cream that Tyler spent a ton of time on, which might be wise. The first round of judges have tons of praise for the roasted white chocolate. The second round are also impressed.

The judges go through the dishes course-by-course and neither finalist seems to have the edges. Gail points out that Paul was doing what he does every day while Sarah took more risks. So shouldn't that mean Paul wins because what he does every day is awesome? Tom thinks that Paul sweated the details a little more, but allows that he hates to see either chef lose for what was a great meal. In the end, Paul wins, as we all knew he would from about week two. I think Paul is a great chef, but I'm really happy this season was over because it was super boring and ugly with all the bullying. On a sweet note though, Paul and his dad are both criers.

Immediately after Lindsay walks out of Judges' Table, Padma congratulates Sarah and Paul on their performance and Tom tells them about their final challenge. They are going to create a four-course tasting menu in the restaurant of their dreams. They'll each get to cook at a fine Vancouver restaurant and Padma promises them "the finest sous-chefs" so you know that means former challengers are returning. Sarah interviews that she's wanted this forever and even postponed her wedding. Someone is marrying Sarah? Awful Sarah? If I were single, here's where I would sink into a deep depression. Maybe her fiancé is awful too.

Back in their suite, Paul and Sarah muse on who the sous-chefs will be. Sarah wants Heather and Grayson, while Paul would like to see Nyesha and Keith. Sarah brings up Chris Hollywood, mostly because she thinks he's cute. He's not THAT good-looking. Maybe he's one of those people who sparkles in person.

Anyway, as Paul and Sarah muse over who will return, we see the returning chefs walking into a kitchen. I spy Heather, Ty-Lor, Nyesha, Grayson, Chris Hollywood, someone from the bubble group that I think was named Ashley, and the two dudes who got cut without even serving any food (Tyler the Bad Butcher and Colin Who Didn't Plate His Food). Padma explains that the two unfamiliar faces are two actual chefs, Barbara Lynch and Marco Canora, and that they will all be competing to become one of the sous-chefs for the final two. What's in it for these guys, though? Redemption, in some cases, but I kind of understand why some of the eliminated cheftestants probably turned this down. Anyway, they have to cook a dish. Any dish.

They all start cooking. Tyler doesn't think that everyone got to see what he can do, since he wasn't allowed to even cook last time. There's chopping and cooking and burning and whatnot. Meanwhile, Sarah and Paul are discussing their nerves. Paul interviews that he's had a fear all along that he would choke, but he hopes to just stay steady. The potential sous-chefs are plating and time runs out. So Paul and Sarah enter the kitchen; they'll be tasting the dishes and basing their decisions on that without being told who made which dish. Yikes. This could get ugly, but it is pretty fair for the people who are there to try to get redemption.

Padma tells Paul and Sarah that there are eleven dishes to taste. They will pick their favorite four and those chefs will be their sous-chefs. Chris Hollywood interviews that he made an Asian dish to try to lure Paul into choosing him. Paul's first choice nets him Barbara Lynch, and he interviews that it's great to have that talent behind him, but it could get awkward since she's not used to being a sous-chef. Sarah chooses Nyesha's dish, and she's really happy. Paul gets Ty-Lor and they're both smiley and happy. Sarah interviews that she really wants Heather and she knows that her dish has biscuits. But then Sarah second-guesses herself because there is a scallop with raisins and curry and she knows Heather has that on her menu in her restaurant. So Sarah picks the scallop dish and it's... dun dun dun, Tyler. Sarah jokes that she's not letting him butcher and everyone cracks up.

By Kim

Paul chooses Chris Hollywood and Sarah chooses Heather, who did, in fact, make the dumpling dish. Paul's last pick yields Keith and Sarah's gets Grayson, which thrills her. Sarah giggles that it's girls versus boys and then realizes that Tyler is on her team. Oops. Padma points out that none of them chose Marco's dish, which was the salmon and they pretend like they're upset. I don't know that I would want a master chef on my team. It's supposed to be the cheftestants' vision and you want people who are just going to execute what you put out there, not people that try to put their own spin on things. And I think that would be easier with people that know you and have cooked with you, right?

They have one hour for menu planning. Sarah explains that she wants her kitchen to have zero drama (so why did she pick Heather?) and that her food is going to combine her German heritage with her Italian training. She also hopes to push some limits, which makes me nervous for her. Pushing limits and trying new things never works out well in the finals -- save that shit for the middle rounds. Paul runs through his dishes with his team and he has it all planned out. Barbara Lynch is making suggestions and Paul is very nice to her when I'd tell her to shut it and get to work. Back on Sarah's side, Tyler wants her to Sous-vide some meat, but Sarah explains that she's never used that technique ever and she's not going to do it on the finals. He keeps pushing it and Sarah interviews that she can't believe his balls, because he was eliminated before the first round and she made it to the finals, so who is he to tell her what to do? Which is kind of a shitty way of looking at it, but also she's not wrong.

By Kim

Shopping! Sarah explains that she gives Tyler very specific tasks, because she doesn't want him to use his judgment at all and she wants him to feel like part of the team. Meanwhile, Paul is wondering if he should pick up some prawns as a backup for one of his dishes, but his team advises him to stick to the plan and not deviate. Paul doesn't listen to them and buys the shrimp anyway. Sarah is buying persimmons and hopes to make dishes that the judges haven't seen before.

Once they're done shopping at the local open-air market, they head to Whole Foods. Paul interviews that he didn't start cooking until after he failed out of college, and he wants to make his parents proud and show them that he can succeed at something. Shopping is so boring that we got Paul backstory and then the shopping trip was over. Why do they still show that? Oh, Whole Foods is a sponsor. Got it.

The two teams report to their respective restaurants. Sarah interviews that she's got a lot on her plate, and she can't make every single thing for this meal, but she hopes to lead the team so that they make it exactly as she would. They have five hours to cook. Meanwhile, Paul has posted a master menu and is demonstrating how he wants things done to each chef. He's a little concerned that most of his food is Asian and none of them cook that as his or her main style.

Sarah is really thrilled with how well the women are doing cooking her food. Meanwhile, Tyler is just wandering around asking dumb questions and trying to push Sarah to use circulator baths and vacuum machines. She's very polite with him, but in an interview she admits that she was thinking, "Just chop the celery!" And then they show Tyler chopping the celery and he is terrible. He's super slow, the pieces aren't the same size and he doesn't even hold his knife right! He's a plant, right? No one that terrible could have even come close to making it on the show. I think he might be a robot, also.

The first day of cooking is winding down. Grayson and Sarah are BFFs now, and Grayson wants Sarah to win. Meanwhile, Paul's team is toasting their day with something alcoholic.

By Kim

Then Paul and Sarah meet with Tom and Emeril to choose their wine pairings. Luckily, they don't spend a ton of time on this, because how boring. Emeril advises them to remember what went wrong in Restaurant Wars. Paul interviews that he didn't step up for his team when he should have because he was afraid of stepping on toes and he regrets it.

That night Sarah calls her fiancé because he calms her down and she appreciates his support. Well, that was interesting. I feel like there are just random segments in this episode to cram in as many sponsors as possible.

The morning, everyone reports back to the kitchens. Sarah is stunned to see Tyler in dress pants and shoes instead of a more appropriate outfit for the kitchen. The rest of them seem to be wearing either chef's pants or jeans and feet-friendly shoes. Heather interviews that Sarah is a great leader, and we see Sarah giving instructions out and everyone responding. Meanwhile, Paul has a whole plan written out and assigns stations and tasks. Barbara interviews that it's amazing to work with Paul because he has passion, drive and wisdom. That's a huge compliment.

As time starts to get tight, Sarah reminds Tyler to do things as efficiently as possible, probably because he's busy doing something with dry ice and goggles. In other words, quit fucking around and chop some more celery. Ty-Lor and Chris are having fun in Paul's kitchen. Keith tastes the crab for one of the dishes and doesn't like what he tastes. He calls Barbara over and she agrees. It sat out overnight and I don't know if it took on some flavor from the fridge or what, but it's -- as Keith puts it -- "funky." And you don't want funky crab. Funky chicken? Fine. Loosey goose? Great. But funky crab doesn't work. So now Paul has to come up with a backup plan. Hey, remember when he bought those prawns even though his team told him not to bother? Now he's got a Plan B.

Sarah is still having problems with Tyler. He's mixing up her ice cream by hand, I guess? I don't know what method he's using. She wants him to do it in the mixer, but he insists that won't work even though she's done it that way many times. Finally she relents and lets him just do whatever. That's a great strategy for the finale. Grayson interviews that the girls are going to "jam out with our clams out" and I can't believe that got by the censors. Because it's the female version of rock out with our cocks out, right? Or do I just have a dirty mind?

By Kim

Service time is getting close. Sarah and Paul give instructions to their servers. Paul is tasting various components and offering ideas for improvement and then time is up and the doors open. Diners start pouring in. The judges have split into two groups; they'll eat in one restaurant and then swap and eat in the other. So first up in Paul's restaurant are Gail, Tom, Marco Canora (the guy who didn't get picked earlier), Mark McEwan (head judge of Top Chef Canada) and Cat Cora. Paul serves his first course: chawanmushi (Asian egg custard), edamame, pea shoots, and spot prawns. The judges love the texture, which is "nice and jiggly" and the flavor profile. Mark comments that Paul really knows his flavors. Gail likes the saltiness. Edward, cheftestant from this season, loves it as do the other diners.

The judges are arriving in Sarah's restaurant too: Padma, Emeril, Hugh Acheson, the Terlato wine dude and Chef David Myers. Emeril comments that he sees a lot of things on the menu that he wouldn't expect from Sarah, like dashi. Sarah serves her first course: squid ink tagliatelle, spot prawns, and coconut. Emeril says it's delicious, and David says that he didn't think the ingredients from various regions would work well together, but they do.

Sarah plates the judges' second course: rye-crusted Steelhead trout with fennel sauce, pickled beets, and gras pista (whipped pork fat). Emeril really likes the trout, although he feels it's a bit heavy on the fennel. Another judge doesn't think the beets are pickled enough and, in fact, they just taste like raw beets.

As Paul works in the dining room a server comes back and says the diners at table thirty would like to see him. He goes out to find his parents and his girlfriend eating his food. Paul's dad is the cutest. Paul cries a little bit, and so does his dad and they hug. Ugh, the best.

Paul serves his second course: grilled sea bass with clam dashi, pickled radishes and mushrooms. Carlo really likes the aesthetics, and he points out the pink radishes and the scoring on the mushrooms as little details that stand out. Tom likes the aroma of the broth and the smokiness of the dashi, and adds that he can't find any fault with the dish, really.

By Kim

Paul then serves his third course: congee with scrambled eggs, uni, kale, and smoked albacore. Tom thinks that it's fine but not as interesting as Paul's other dishes. Cat likes the flavor but doesn't see where the dish fits in with the rest of Paul's menu. It is a little unusual that Paul has two egg dishes.

Sarah's third course is braised veal cheek with crispy veal sweetbreads, and there is polenta and persimmon sauce on the plate as well. Sarah has major concerns about the texture of the polenta, but she doesn't have time to make changes before the dishes go out to this round of judges. Padma loves the veal cheek and Hugh says that the polenta reminds him of breakfast porridge. I'm not sure if that's a compliment.

Sarah's fourth course is hazelnut cake with candied kumquat and roasted white chocolate ganache. Wasn't there going to be peppermint ice cream in there at one point? Wasn't that what Tyler was working on? I can't believe she'd let him handle the white chocolate ganache, since that's kind of the core of this dish. Wish I knew what happened to that. Anyway, one of the judges points out that Sarah served white chocolate, but basically turned it into caramel. Hugh thinks they'll all be ripping this dish off for years. The diners think the dessert is the best course, and Emeril says that the meal was great and the dessert was over the top.

After her first round of judges leaves, Sarah decides to fix her polenta problem. She cooks the persimmon down and adds cream to the polenta so that it's smoother.

Paul serves his fourth course: coconut ice cream, puffed rice, kumquats, mangosteen, Thai chili foam, and jasmine gelée. He had some problems with the ice cream, but uses liquid nitrogen to get the right texture. Gail and Cat note that the foam is spicy and another judge thinks that the puffed rice adds a great texture. They agree that it was a sexy meal. Tom says that Paul "knocked it out of the park" and hopes Sarah can do the same.

Paul notes that it was awkward working with Barbara Lynch at first, but things have gotten better as they worked and he thinks she's a valuable asset to his team. Good to know. Not sure why they had to throw that in there other than to appease Barbara Lynch in case she thought she was getting a bad edit.

By Kim

Now Sarah gets her chance to find out that her family is sitting at one of her tables. Her parents and her fiancé are there and you know Sarah is crying, because Sarah cries at the drop of her hat. Sarah explains that her mom was a single mom who sacrificed a lot for her. So I don't think Sarah's dad is there. Oh, Sarah explains that it was her mom, her fiancé, her future mother-in-law and her best friend.

So the judging teams have swapped restaurants, and Sarah serves her first course to the new group. Let's just call them Tom and Gail's group. Tom calls it a "very, very successful dish."

Sarah checks in with her family and her fiancé pulls her aside and whispers that his fish had a bone in it. So Sarah runs back to the kitchen and she and Nyesha go through all the filets to make sure there are no bones in any of them.

Meanwhile, Keith is firing off Paul's first course, the custard, and he overcooks it. Paul is really careful not to place blame, but Keith is the one in charge of cooking them and they're overcooked, so it's Keith's fault. Paul says that he doesn't have any more eggs, so he can't redo them and he can't blame Keith, because he trained Keith. Well, he could blame Keith but he's too classy. Anyway, he greets the new group of judges and says that service has been smooth until right now. They taste the dish and discuss how the texture of the dish isn't great, and Emeril adds that the prawn is overcooked as well.

The second group of judges think that the fish is perfectly cooked but underseasoned. They like the veal too, but Cat thinks it needed a crunch of some kind. We're just whipping through the courses now.

The other group of judges can't say enough good things about Paul's second and third dishes, and the wine guy even says that Paul's food is the best dish he's ever had.

Moving on to the desserts: the judges love Sarah's, but the other judges worry that the rice was a little overdone. I don't know how important it is to listen to judges' comments at this point, because the editors always show an equal amount of positive and negative comments to make it seem like it's close. Given Tom's blog post about the episode, I think this contest actually was close, but you can't tell from the judges' comments usually. Anyway, both Paul and Sarah are happy with the food they put out for the most part and now just have to wait and see what the judges say.

By Kim

Sarah and Paul report to Judges' Table. Sarah has obviously been crying. I don't know if she just did her interviews for the show, if she said goodbye to her family or if she's just crying for no reason. All of these are equally plausible in my mind. Tom addresses them and says that in all of the seasons, including All-Stars, this is the best food they've ever had in a finale. Wow. That's huge! This is why I wish the judges were allowed to be more effusive while tasting the dishes; I would never have guessed that the food was that good based on their reactions. Because the editors don't want to give anything away, we don't get to see anyone go, "Wow. WOW! That is SO GOOD!" And yet, it appears that was their honest reaction. Paul and Sarah hug and Paul says he feels really good standing up there, and he poured a lot of himself into it. I hope he doesn't mean literally into his food. That would be gross. Sarah says that her mom pushed her to be a successful woman on her own. I love that message; I don't love Sarah.

Gail says that there are times where you eat a dish that you've never had before and yet it totally makes sense and you can't believe it's not more common. Gail feels that way about Sarah's first course, the tartare over the pasta. Emeril loved the crust on her trout, but thought the beets were a little too raw. Sarah says that she let them marinate in the cooler overnight with no cooking, and Hugh says they were a little bitter but they're splitting hairs. Tom says that the cheeks were perfect and the dashi was good, but the sweetbreads were a little dry. Sarah explains what happened with the polenta and why the second seating had a better dish. Hugh tells her that her dessert was awesome. Padma slurs that she hates white chocolate and yet this was the best dessert she's had in all the seasons. Paul congratulates Sarah for that one.

Moving on to Paul, he says that he wanted to focus on seafood, so he started off with the custard. Gail was blown away by it and how silky smooth it was, and how the prawn was barely cooked and perfect. Hugh says that his was overcooked and Paul knew it. Tom asks what happened and Paul says that their batch was just overcooked. Note that he doesn't throw Keith under the bus. Hugh has nothing but praise for Paul's second course, and Emeril says that the broth was brilliant. Padma thought the congee showed great confidence, but Gail wasn't sure how it fit into the progression of the menu. Hugh disagrees, and explains how he thought it fit. Tom loved the dessert, because he likes a savory dessert and it was his favorite dish of the night. Hugh wants some clarification on how the puffed rice was cooked and concludes that it was a little too crunchy.

By Kim

Paul and Sarah are excused. Paul says that his highlight was seeing his dad's smile, and Sarah loves that her family got to come into her world and see her in her element.

The judges start their discussion in order to pick an ultimate winner. Tom and Padma agree that Sarah and Paul are both peaking at the right time. They bring up Paul's first course, and how the two groups had wildly varying experiences because one batch was overcooked. Gail argues for Sarah's pasta as the better first course, and Tom thinks it's a toss up, but if Paul's custard hadn't been overcooked, he would have taken it.

Moving on to the second course, Emeril says that Sarah's fish had a perfect crust, but Paul's broth was amazing. Hugh agrees that the dish had amazing and sophisticated flavors, so the second course probably goes to Paul.

Padma thinks the third course will be the hardest to decide. Sarah's veal cheeks were amazing, but some of the judges got a sub-par polenta. Emeril wonders if Paul's congee was really that great and Hugh says that he thinks it was. So the third course is kind of a toss up as well.

For the dessert course, Emeril has to vote for Sarah's dessert. Gail thinks that Paul's dessert woke her up and had a mix of many different flavors. Hugh thinks that Sarah's dessert shouldn't be overlooked, because she really nailed hazelnut cake, which wasn't easy.

Overall, Gail thinks that Paul did what he does every day, while Sarah took risks. Well, I know they are supposed to judge just this one meal, but isn't that almost an argument to choose Paul? Like Paul always makes amazing food while Sarah just happened to make amazing food this one time when she really pushed herself but who knows if she could do this on an ongoing basis? I'm biased, I know. Tom argues that Paul sweats the details a little better. The problem the judges have is that all of the food was so good that you don't want to see one of them lose for making such good food. Well, you don't, Tom. I want to see one of them lose, because a tie would be lame.

By Kim

Weird interstitial. While waiting to hear the results, Paul and Sarah drink some rum. Wow, that was fascinating.

Paul and Sarah are called back in front of the judges to hear which one of them is the winner. They find that their families and their sous-chefs are there to witness the judging. Padma reminds them what's at stake: $125,000 and the title of Top Chef. Tom says that it's been a pleasure watching them cook and tonight's meal was spectacular. He thinks Sarah grew as a cook and took a lot of risks, while Paul brought it all season and tonight was no different. He tells them it was close and they should both be proud. And who's the winner. Padma? She says, "Paul [loooooong pause]. You are Top Chef." Yay, Paul! Oh, his dad is already crying. The best. Paul interviews that the journey has come to an end, and he can't get his mind around it. Sarah is, you guessed it, crying. She says that she thought for a second that it would be her and it wasn't and she thinks she deserves it, but it wasn't her day. I will give her props for really battling it out all season. I wouldn't have been completely shocked if she had pulled it off somehow, but honestly, we all knew Paul was going to win from about the first episode, maybe the second. Anyway, this fairly boring season is finally over! Let's hope they find a way to spice things up (no pun intended) time around because I loved Paul, but the rest of them were not interesting or fun to watch.

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