Top Chef All Stars 12/15

SPOILER ALERT! 

That said, really judges? REALLY? Can anyone I'm rooting for make it to finals? Last night, the Chefs were sent to various restaurants, with the challenge of creating a dish the executive chef of their location wouldn't mind putting on their menu. Of course, some of the chefs were out of their element. Carla, for example, was working at wd-50, forward thinking chef Wylie Dufresne's place. His style of cooking is very modern and experimental. The dish created had to fit in with the house style, regardless. Everyone did relatively well. Sent home was Dale L. and Steven. Dale was second place on his season, so I honestly felt like he would last longer. His dish was cooked well, it was just too sweet for an evening dish. Steven also was just off a tad. Neither were terrible. I think its going to come down to these individual challenges this season, for sure. I'm used to watching top chef, and being able to predict who is going when. A surprise elimination is just that, a SURPRISE. This season, though, Tom Colicchio had it right, the judges are going to be wrong, "seventeen times this season." All of these Chefs are great, and its anyones game! I was really rooting for Steven to make it farther, but he made a great point after elimination. The Steven we saw in season one could have won the game! Steven, seven years later, doesn't cook daily! Hes made his way up into the world. I understand, because while I make more money as a freelance artist than I did as a retail 40 hour artist, I lose that daily practice. I always warm up with a different looks before big jobs, because I'm no longer in the practice of doing makeup 8 hours a day. I don't have as many surprise challenges falling into my lap. Steven explained his issue the same way. He was incredibly classy, and dressed like he dresses, hes GOTTA be classy. He was happy to say, he lost because his game wasn't on par with his competitors. Its nice to see the blame placed someone other than on EVERYONE ELSE.  So bye bye boys, its been fun! 

Dale L.

Steven, aka "The Fancy Man"

Haven't yet caught up on Hell's Kitchen, because I'm too afraid that Russell may have won. Don't tell me! 

Sam