It was one of a the closest contests ever in 'Top Chef' history, as Wednesday's finale came down to two remarkable, four-course dinners composed by the remaining two 'Top Chef All-Stars' cheftestants.

It was like a prize fight, with both heavyweight chefs Richard Blais and Michael Isabella slugging it out course by course, dish by dish, morsel by morsel.

The judges, including guest chefs like Hubert Keller and Art Smith, were duly impressed by the food presented by these two finalists. Head judge Tom Colicchio declared that it had been the best cooking he'd ever eaten in a 'Top Chef' finale.

Ultimately, the choice of one over the other was a case of splitting hairs, with Blais emerging victorious. Read on for interviews with both Blais and Isabella.

This season of 'Top Chef: All-Stars' (Wed., 10PM ET on Bravo) was all about second chances. In a tough competition, it came down to Richard Blais, who had to settle for runner-up in Season 4, and Mike Isabella, who came in seventh in Season 6.

So, while Isabella had already surpassed his earlier performance, Blais went into this finale facing the possibility of being a runner-up for the second straight time.

For this epic finale, several of the former contestants came back to help the finalists prepare their final dishes to excite and impress the judges. The show even flew out their families to watch the winner being crowned. But who would take home the prize?

Does Food Network think that we don't know that other networks do shows about food? The reason I'm asking the question is this: season four Top Chef finalist Richard Blais was a guest on Ted Allen's Food Detectives last week talking about how to freeze alcohol with liquid nitrogen to make really cool looking cocktails.

I recognized Richard right away, as did probably most other foodies who watched the show...but you'd never know about his Top Chef tenure if you listened to Ted's introduction. It was like the other show didn't exist.