re: Top Chef: All-Stars L.A. (starts 3/19)

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Melissa is gonna win imo

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I wound't be surprised. I just want Voltaggio to win.

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gay (I think?)

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She mentioned that if she won the quick fire in Italy for $10k she could have her own Italian vacation with a cute girl on the back of a scooter....so I would assume she is.

I've read a bunch of articles in the past about other seasons, and Tom always says the winner is usually pretty clear from about the third or fourth challenge. He has said that there are only a couple of seasons out of the almost 20 were there were two contenders that made is a close call until near the end. He said they have to usually work really hard to edit so the winner isn't clear right off the bat.

All that said, I think this is probably more like the normal season than a super competitive one, even though its All-Stars. Melissa has, frankly, dominated this season, and it seems like they have tried hard to down-play her at times. Just like last challenge, the edit made it almost certain that Brian V. would win, but lo and behold, yet another win for Melissa.

It's Melissa hands down.

I just caught up on last week's episode.

My girl STEPH, the dark horse! I don't think she'll win, but so proud of her for making it so far. I just love her. Also, I would eat her cabbage all day long. That shite looked delicious.

Bryan tearing up when Kevin was eliminated tugged at my heart strings. He's such a dad. I also love him.

Melissa is so damn talented, and she's on fire. She'll most likely take it all.

I'm actually feeling good about whichever winner we get, which doesn't usually happen. I like and respect them all...I'm definitely thinking it's Mel's to lose at this point, though.

Disappointed, but it is what it is (not really shocked though). I hope one day I can have all 3 of the chefs food.

Spoilers







The winner was obvious based on the feedback.

Melissa may have had the best 4 dishes I just hate when a winner cooks the same style the entire season and it seems to me she really did that. Basically every dish was Asian fusion. The Italian guy crying over the milk tea tiramisu guaranteed no one else stood a chance

That final meal was a thing of beauty, for all 3 chefs.

I think if Melissa had gone in there and cooked strictly Chinese food for the finale, it would have been delicious, but it also might have been tiresome since that's her style. The way she managed to blend her Chinese heritage and style with Italian food, and to do it seamlessly, was truly artful.

She deserved to win, and that's coming from the biggest Bryan V. fangirl ever.

I get the feeling that it was another Paul Qui type season...like she was so good that the editors had to work hard to make it look like anyone else was even close. The other two didn't look surprised when she won.

That milk tea tiramisu was a literal stroke of genius, and I teared up when I saw that butcher cry over it. She was so respectful of the traditions involved in classic Italian cooking while putting her own amazing spin on it.

Still so proud of Steph.

Loved the shite out of that finale. My favorite ever, I think.