VoltaggioBrothers

(S06E15) Well, it's pretty hard to argue with a Top Three whose members have won twelve of the thirteen elimination challenges, as Tom tells us at the beginning of the episode. Some of you may think that Jen was robbed in favor of creating more drama by having the Voltaggio brothers in the finale, but I disagree. She had a several-week stint toward the end where she just fell apart and barely made it through elimination. None of these guys had that, so they absolutely deserve to be here.

However, it is mighty convenient that having brothers in the finale tugs at our heartstrings just a little bit more, since they bring the moms in for the final challenge. I love the idea of having the chefs create a first course that reminds them of childhood memories, especially since we got such good stories out of it. Kevin's mom loves fried chicken skin! Brian was inspired by the texture in his mother's simple dishes, while Michael was a picky eater who "hated everything." I guess he got past that.

(S06E12) When I saw that the title of tonight's episode was "Culinary Olympics," I didn't really imagine what the chefs would be going through. Were they going to be pole vaulting into the kitchen, did they have to prepare a meal on an ice skating rink? What could be the Olympian angle? Well, apparently there's a culinary competition that's as intense as the Olympics -- and it's not held in a kitchen stadium with Alton Brown doing play by play.

That said, this may have been one of the toughest assignments ever on Top Chef. I tried to envision how past season winners -- let alone the runners up -- would have done in the same circumstances that these final five faced. I can't say for sure that I can think of one that would have aced it ... and for how this five did, read on.

(S06E11) This episode isn't about drama, stunts, or (gasp!) vegetarians. It is simply a case of "we have six chefs and we need to get down to five," so it kind of felt like a filler episode. The guest judge was Nigella Lawson, and while Nigella Lawson would be a welcome edition to any TV show, there just isn't a whole lot going on here.

Although, I will say that the quickfire challenge probably provided foodie fantasy fodder worldwide, as it opened up with Padma in bed, wearing a robe with tousled hair -- and if that wasn't enough, we find that Nigella is also in a robe and in bed as well. Granted, they're different beds, but still: same room. The ostensible reason for this was to to a breakfast in bed Quickfire challenge, but come on-- they didn't have Tom Colicchio in that bed.

(S06E07) Here's what I love about this episode of Top Chef: Jen and her illness. Yes, it was lovely how she triumphed over adversity and made a kick-ass dish, but mainly, I like the way that it didn't change her at all. She had the exact same dead-eyed expression and monotone that we've all come to know and love. Sick Jen or well Jen, they're both pretty much dead inside-- and I find her hilarious.

This week's Quickfire Challenge involves a slot machine (as all good challenges in life do). I really enjoyed seeing what the chefs came up with, based solely on three random words that came up on the machine. Even when they pulled words that would seem to make it easy, like Ashley's "Blue Cheesy Middle Eastern," they still don't go in the expected direction: there was no blue cheese in her dish.