Who's gonna win Top Chef 4?

[northernsoul]

I think it will come down to Richard vs. Stephanie. I have to give a slight edge to Richard due to his inventiveness and technical skills - but he does occasionally make errors in judgment. Stephanie, on the other hand, tends to keep it a little simpler, but it sounds like her taste is pitch-perfect. Her liability is that she might be a little too boring. I think that Lisa is in over her head and that she will defeat herself with her own negative attitude.

[fishwax]

1. I'm pulling for Stephanie

and have been since fairly early in the season. She seems to be consistently top notch in her performance and she's always got a great attitude.

[ellacott]

2. I want Stephanie to win

I like Richard a lot but I like Stephanie better. I don't like Lisa. I didn't like it when she got upset because they didn't congratulate her. They don't typically do that.

[LisaM]

3. I think it will be Stephanie.

They haven't had a woman winner yet, and Lisa is obviously not going to make it (I wanted to root for a fellow Lisa, but she makes too many blunders, and is too antagonistic). I really like Richard, too, though it took me more time to warm up to him. Now he is one of my favorites.

Every now and then Stephanie produces something that's really astonishing. Richard does too, but I think that his reliance on gizmos is a strike against him.

Stephanie also impressed me last week when Dale messed up her pork, and she rallied anyway. The other thing that I think would make her a good chef - as opposed to just a cook - is how she handled the responsibility of assigning the assistants. A lot of the others would have deliberately tried to mess the competitors up. She didn't do that, so it's a sign that she is not only first rate in her cooking skills, she also has what it takes to run a kitchen smoothly.

[northernsoul]

6. Stephanie's rally after the pork belly disaster was incredible

She is awesome at staying cool under pressure.

[Dr. Mullion Blasto]

4. I miss Antonia. She was so cool.

[northernsoul]

5. Antonia might be the cheftestant I'd most like to...

... have a home-cooked meal with. She was the one with a cooking style closest to what I like to do at home: rustic, slow, and easy.

[LisaM]

7. And _____________ it was! (Don't want to spoil).

I was quite surprised it was Stephanie, actually. Although I'd been rooting for her, I thought that the judges in actuality liked Lisa's meal better in the finale. Unfortunately for her, I think there were residual implications from her attitude all season long and although they SAID they were simply judging on the one meal, it was pretty clear they weren't.

I thought it was really interesting how Lisa got along with her sous chef. It made me realize how much of her attitude was insecurity. Once she felt validated, she got nicer. Watching some snippets of previous episodes, too, I was really glad that Spike and Andrew were gone.

[radiofreepress]

8. I'm glad it wasn't Lisa

[Suich]

9. You're not the only one!

Welcome to DU, radiofreepress!

:toast:

[radiofreepress]

10. Thanks