"Top Chef": It's Not "American Idol"

During last night’s “Top Chef: Chicago,” Bravo asked viewers which chef should be sent home.

91% voted for Lisa to “pack her knives and go.”

Unfortunately for all of us Lisa haters out there, “Top Chef” is not “American Idol” and our opinion doesn’t mean squat…

Warning: If you haven’t seen part one of the “Top Chef” season finale, stop reading now…

We really should’ve seen it coming. From the moment my boy Blais admitted that not many people would expect Lisa to be there. And then there was Nikki’s admission that something was off about Antonia. She was totally right. But why that didn’t make Nikki jump in and save those peas, I have no idea…

However, the final tell was when Tom said nothing to Antonia after tasting her food. He had complimented Blais (I know his name is Richard, but they all call him Blais so I will too.), Stephanie and even Lisa. So when he said nothing to Antonia, you knew the unthinkable was about to happen.

And happen it did. Ladies and gentlemen, Lisa has made it to the finals of “Top Chef”…

But even more unthinkable. Could she actually win?

I sincerely hope that Blais will have a little something to say about that. After his poor showing in the Quickfire, I was a little worried. And then I got even more worried when Stephanie assigned him Spike. But Blais ended up winning the final challenge AND a brand new car. The look of shock on his face was priceless and I can’t wait to see it again…and again…and again (God bless Bravo!).

And speaking of shock, I was gasping at the sight of that pork not making the refrigerator. And I was completely freaking out, afraid that Spike had just torpedoed my guy. But it was Dale who did the torpedoing of Stephanie. And did Stephanie pull a Lisa and totally scream and yell at him? Nope, she just calmly told him they were throwing it out and worked with him on a plan B. It was Stephanie making a strong case to win this thing. And I have to admit that after seeing last night’s episode, I would be okay with that.

So back to my question. Could Lisa win? I certainly hope not—and I am not alone. The Bravo message boards are full of comments from fans citing conspiracy theories that the show left Lisa on for the ratings. But what everyone needs to remember is that the judges decide on that week’s challenge and that challenge alone. So they didn’t take Lisa’s constant presence in the bottom into account at all. Plus, they only judge on what’s on the plate—not the attitude the chefs exhibit in the kitchen. They don’t see that until we do.

If you want to see a better defense of the judges, go to BravoTV.com and read Tom’s blog. But don’t think that Tom doesn’t understand where we’re coming from, because he does. In fact, two weeks ago, he believed that Lisa should have gone home instead of Dale based on the episode he saw (Tom was away at a charity event and did not judge that challenge.).

But it’s all about the food on the plate. And this week, Antonia’s was worse.

Now, a lot of fans are saying that if Lisa wins they’re done with the show, but there’s no way I could say that. I’ll just have to be extremely disappointed and hope that Blais wins the Fan Favorite.

I’m 100% positive that Lisa won’t win that one…

Part two of the “Top Chef: Chicago” finale airs Wednesday, June 11th at 10 p.m. on Bravo…

P.S. I would like to thank the hard working duo in hard hats from American Electric Power who made it possible for me to see last night’s episode. I was starting to sweat it…