This was the most exciting finale of Top Chef to date! It was great to see that my pick for the winner, Hung, was still in it and I couldn’t wait to see what twists were going to unfold this time around. I was definitely on pins and needles as Heidi Klum from Project Runway would say (I can’t wait to start watching that next!).

For the first twist, all three chefs were to create 3 dishes and they were going to be served head-to-head. In past seasons, the finalists served their dishes individually in separate restaurants. With this turn of events, the cheftestants’ dishes would be judged against their competitions. How nerve-racking that must be!

After that announcement, the judges gave the finalists 30 minutes to look at the abundance of ingredients that were laid out for them and prepare their menu. It was fun to watch them bite into different vegetables and taste everything they could because we didn’t really see that in Season 2 in Hawaii.

Finally, time is up and now it’s time to reveal the sous chefs, as most of us watching predicted when we saw the knife block. I mentioned to my boyfriend that if Hung got to choose first that he’d have a better chance of winning because we all know that not all of the previous cheftestants would want to work with him. Boy were we wrong! Here comes the biggest twist of the evening.

Yes, Hung choose Knife 1 but that didn’t mean that he got first pick of sous chef from the pool of past cheftestants. It actually meant that Hung’s sous chef would be coming out of door number one! And out walks celebrity chefs Rocco Dispirito, Michelle Bernstein for Casey, and Todd English for Dale who were there to help them cook on Day 1 out of 2 only. Talk about great help! This was a twist that was surely going to make this finale fun to watch - great idea Top Chef producers!

As they all march in to start Day 1 of prep and cooking, Hung’s menu consisted of raw hamachi fish and “chips” to start, prawns for his second dish and sous vide duck for his final course. Casey opted to prepare scallop and foie gras, prawns for her second course as well with a rice cake and a pork belly dish. Finally, Dale’s menu gave the diners a foie gras mousse, butter poached lobster, and Colorado rack of lamb. It was interesting to watch the celebrity chefs prep for the finalists. It was clear, even on TV, that they all wanted to give some sort of advice, but they just couldn’t do it. All they could do was offer the best help they could and it was great to see that none of the cheftestants held back when it came to ordering around chefs they really respect.

While the finalists were busy working away getting their dishes ready for the judges on Day 2, Chef Tom walks in with another twist. They were asked to make a fourth dish and would get the help of another sous chef - now, it’s actually one of their former competitors. I was really glad to see that Hung chose to make a dessert of molten chocolate cake and raspberries. I know the judges always say that they don’t judge on this and why make something you’re not comfortable with, etc. But I knew this decision would give Hung and edge up and make his menu memorable IF he could pull it off. Casey and Dale, however, chose to make another savory dish - lamb and scallop, respectively.

It’s judging time! At the table were the standard panel of judges, Chef Tom, Gail, Padma and Ted Allen, as well as the celebrity sous chefs, and the last guy asked to pack up his knives and go, Brian (last twist of the night, folks!). The best dishes of the evening were (1st course) Hung’s raw hamachi fish and potato ‘chips’. That’s one for Hung! The second course belonged to Dale’s surprise dish, the scallop which Ted Allen declared was his favorite dish throughout the entire competition. Although I might add that the judges liked Hung’s prawn dish as well, although it lacked a bit of seasoning.

Third course was handed over to Hung once again for his sous vide duck which Todd English declared with good enough for three Michelin stars. Even I was shocked when those words were uttered since that’s one of the highest achievements a chef can get! And finally, fourth course went hands down to Dale’s rack of lamb. But again, the judges noted that Hung’s chocolate cake was very good. It just wasn’t original and it kind of didn’t go with the other dishes that he made. So that’s two dishes for Hung and two for Dale. I’m sure as you know at this point, Casey really isn’t in the running to win but she was still a force to be reckoned with nonetheless.

And now it’s time to turn the cameras over to the Chicago live finale to announce the winner - Congratulations Hung! I’m really glad they didn’t drag it out and make it longer than it had to be (aside from one commercial break). Chef Tom gave them all great praise - you should have seen the look on Dale’s face when Chef Tom told him that his rack of lamb was a wonderful dish and that it should be one that he carries with him forever. Even more amusing was Hung’s reaction when he was told that his duck was of 3 Michelin star status! G’bye Top Chef, for now, until the next season - I can’t wait to “watch what happens”.

I’m so sad that next week will be the last week I get to watch Top Chef - until next season that is. But, I’m SO excited that we get to see three chefs cook for the finale. And, I’m even more excited that the chef everyone loves to hate, Hung, is still in the running! Woo hoo!

Let’s recap: the Final Four finally make it to Aspen and are challenged with a Quickfire almost right away. They hop onboard a hot-air balloon and make their way to a remote area along a river - strange. I must say that this challenge was pretty out there and it was fun to watch the cheftestants try to make a gourmet trout dish with a portable burner on a couple of tree stumps. However, I think that Anthony Bourdain was absolutely right in his BravoTV blog when he said that this challenge was a waste of such a talented and well-respected judge in Eric Ripert, known famously for specializing in seafood. It must suck to eat such wonderful food, seafood no less, and then have to judge campfire cuisine.
Everyone looked to be struggling except for Hung, who actually finished 6 minutes early. WTF?! If I knew that a piece of fish was going to sit on a plate for 6 minutes before Padma and Eric were to taste it, I’d probably start over. Cold fish isn’t pleasant and I’m surprised they didn’t mention it during judging. And with so much time left over, you think he could have remembered the lemon? I love Hung, he’s my favorite to win, but even I couldn’t stop laughing.

Brian didn’t fare too well, with his underseasoned salad with trout and neither did Dale; the spices in his dish completely missed the mark. That leaves Casey to be the winner of the Quickfire. I don’t care what anyone says, I think that she’s the one Hung needs to beat and if she does win, I’d be happy (don’t tell my boyfriend that - wink!).

On to the Elimination Challenge: Since Casey won, she had the advantage of using any of the special ingredients she was allowed to bring from home for the finale. Surprisingly (and it may just be me because I didn’t realize), her self-proclaimed style of cuisine is pan-Asian. Perfect for a final match up with Hung who’s originally from Vietnam. But, Casey opted not to use her special ingredients as she thought they’d be more appropriate for something else since the protein of choice for this challenge to feed cowboys and girls was… elk.

I think they all did pretty good with the ingredient at hand, considering that most of them never cooked with elk before expect for Casey. Being from Texas, Casey was already familiar with elk. And even though she prepared hers extremely rare, her smoky tomato sauce saved her from elimination.

Hung was recognized by the judges as being the best technical chef - technically. He prepared the elk perfectly and his flavors were good but restrained. However, because if this, the judges claimed that his food had no soul and that he wasn’t cooking from his Vietnamese roots. He pleaded with the panel that if he made it to the final, that Hung’s true flavors would come out. And I rooted for Hung to make it through so that I, too, could see what he had to offer.

Dale admitted something to us this week that we didn’t know about him. Before he made it onto Top Chef, he hadn’t really cooked for over a year. His restaurant closed down and he was trying to find who he was as a chef from this competition. Could’ve fooled me since he was one of my favorites from earlier on. He really nailed it on the head and knew that if he made a great sauce, that it would be a home run for him. And indeed he did. Congratulations on your win, Dale!

And finally, we have Brian. As you probably know, Brian was the lone chef who had to pack his knives and go. Although I’m sure his elk dish was very good, it suffered from too many ingredients which left us to think that he was trying to hard. Overdoing your food with too many ingredients is never good. The way the producers edited the show, it appeared that it took him forever to describe his dish to Padma. Even Gail proclaimed that it took him 25 minutes to convey elk with bourbon, balsamic, garlic, cherries, sage, and on and on and on, proved to be harmful to his chances in continuing on in the competition. And alas, we have to say goodbye to Brian.

Now, who will be the Top Chef next week? Three finalists will prove to be extremely difficult for the judges to decide on and you bet I’ll be right there with the rest of America to find out!

I must say, last night’s Top Chef was one of my favorites this season. It was all about going back to the basics and judging on skill and simplicity. None of this, what can you make all ingredients from a gas station (a la Season 1), make an amuse bouche from vending machine foods (from Season 2) or the debacle of a Quickfire requiring chefs to shop from one aisle in the grocery store with only $10 to their name.

The Quickfire challenge was about recreating a classic in a real kitchen with real ingredients and real equipment (put that hot plate away!). I was really glad to see that Hung won this and I was actually really glad to see that he didn’t share how he prepared the potato-wrapped sea bass with the other kids. Even though it may have been arrogant to the other contestants in the moment, they must have looked back on this episode and thought to themselves, if I were in the same spot, would I share what I did? After all, it’s a competition with only one winner.

Moving on to the Elimination Challenge, it was interesting to see that they didn’t go all out like the did in Season 1 by giving the cheftestants black truffle and wine or asking them to create an upscale 5-course tasting menu (Season 2). For this Elimination Challenge going into the Aspen finale, the cheftestants were asked to create a fabulous dish using 3 simple, everyday ingredients - chicken, potatoes, and onions.

This was one of the few episodes this season where I could clearly see who the top contenders were and who actually deserved to go home. From the start, we could see that Hung and Casey’s concepts were right on to just create classic dishes the old school deans from the French Culinary Institute could enjoy. The fact that Hung is classically trained made him a top choice to win.

Casey also had an edge up by recreating a favorite dish from her childhood that her French grandmother always made. I believe that these were the types of dishes that the judges were looking for. They didn’t want complicated food that you had to interpret, like Dale’s duet of chicken. They weren’t looking for regional specialties like Sara’s Jamaican inspired dish or Brian’s Shepard’s Pie. Even if it tasted amazing as Brian’s dish was although it looked like a pile of you-know-what, it didn’t represent classic, simple food. Hung and Casey delivered on this and Hung came out as the ultimate winner and I’m glad.

I can’t wait to see what these guys are up against in the Aspen finale, but you bet your ass that I’m going to have something to say about it. Who do you think will go head-to-head as the final two? Vote on my featured poll now!

For those Rock of Love fans out there, I’m sure you were rejoicing as I was on Sunday when crazy Lacey FINALLY got the boot!

Was it the grilling Bret got from Lacey’s dad about signing a pre-nup before getting married? Uh, hello?! Bret’s still dating two other girls; I wonder what made dear old dad think that wedding bells were anywhere in the near future. Was it witnessing the fight between Heather and Lacey, where Heather was calling her a manipulative liar in front of his face that got him thinking that his “crazy Lacey” was really crazy? Or was it just hanging out and having WAY more fun with the other girls and their parents? Check out this video of Bret opening up gag gifts from Jes’ parents that includes a human-sized condom!

I definitely think that it was a combination of Lacey’s scary, money-makes-the-world-go-’round, pre-nup pushin’ dad and the fact that Lacey’s been called out by everyone in the house for her manipulative ways that made Bret decide that maybe he couldn’t trust to be around her after all. The bandana-wearing cowboy rockstar finally saw the light, and we’re SO glad.

Let’s see who will survive the final round and makes it onto Bret’s tour bus in the end. At this point, I’m kinda diggin’ Heather but just like you, I’ll have to wait and see.

I’m gonna go with Jack-not.

The show was a total mess. The main stage had no energy because all of the fans were partying in the Fantasy Suites (wish I was there!). There weren’t enough big-show performances and out of the, I dunno, three we got, Chris Brown completely rocked it out with Usher-esque moves and flair we’d expect from Justin Timberlake. Chris Brown got everyone up and out of their seats and even Diddy was pumped up. Maybe you can make his band!

The Fantasy Suites were a fun idea but I don’t think was appropriate for the VMAs. The VMAs are a big deal and fans expect big performances from them. The suite performances were good, but lackluster for the audience AND we didn’t even get to see the entire shows! We also got performances from the same artists and didn’t get to see a lot of other noteworthy musicians from the past year. Don’t get me wrong, I love Timbaland and his whole crew and could watch them all day, but what about the rest of America?

Try again next year Executive Producer, Jesse Ignjatovic; make better decisions and give us a better show!

We got a sneak preview at Brit’s opening act at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards and I must say.. I’m not speechless. She was obviously lip syncing, not really dancing, her body wasn’t rockin’ like she normally is during MTV performances, and worst of all, there was no “wow” factor - at all. Check it out for yourself on MTV!

Finally! Howie actually got the boot from Top Chef this week. And I’m not surprised to say the least.

We’ll start at the Quickfire Challenge. The chefs were challenged to create a dish using $10 and shop out of only one aisle of the supermarket, i.e. cereal aisle, canned food, etc. Let’s start with Hung. Oh Hung, were you on some mind-altering substance? A couple of chefs commented that Hung’s dish looked psychodelic like he was visiting Smurf-land or something. Even guest chef, Michael Schwartz, uttered ‘What the fuck’ when he saw the “candy land” mess. It appeared that cocky Hung was back to his old ways when he claimed that (of course) Chef didn’t like his dish because he was closed-minded - HA HA HA.

Then there’s Howie, who didn’t put out any dish because he was unhappy with the result of whatever he was trying to make - really? You’re supposed to be a Top Chef? Roll with it man! I think that was grounds for elimination right then and there.

Brian ended up winning with is elegant Spam (?) concoction - way to go!

So now, for the Elimination challenge, the chefs were asked to cater a boat cruise with $50 each to feed 60 guests. Boy, what a disaster for most. Howie tried to redeem himself by preparing two dishes, an asparagus phyllo cigar and mushroom tarlets that looked like.. well, number 2. Casey prepared a beef carpaccio, Sara made a tomato bread pudding, and C.J. gave us a seafood sausage.

And now Hung, who has regularly claimed that everyone else makes things that are so common that “his monkey could make”, prepared a salmon mousse on cucumber slices. As the judges mentioned, that was sooo 1980s and not inventive at all. Hung’s defense? “I make classic dishes that the average palette can eat.” Let me tell you, I was rolling on the floor when this came out of his mouth. Hung, I’m rooting for you, but really?????

All of the dishes came out average with only a couple clear top contenders from the near dozen hors d’œuvres that came out of their kitchen.

Now, onto Judges’ Table, Casey wins and all are safe but Hung and Howie. Poor Howie, he’s always been a stubborn bastard from day one and tried to take himself out of the competition before he was voted off by the judges’ because he didn’t complete a Quickfire dish and clearly bombed both Elimination Challenge dishes. Thankfully, Tom and Padma didn’t go for it and deliberated among themselves who was going home. I think we all knew that it was Howie’s time to finally go.

The competition is definitely heating up and my favorite Anthony Bourdain will be with us next week so I can’t wait!

For the past couple of years, I’ve been following The Today Show Throws a Wedding series. Folks like us get to decide each week on every aspect of the chosen couple’s big day, from their rings to what they wear and what kind of cake they get.

This year, Martha Stewart is involved in planning Jessica and Cody’s wedding so it should be a good one!

This week, we get to pick the bride’s wedding dress! Help Jessica find the perfect dress and choose your favorite now!

{Photos: Today Show}

Holiday weekends are hard if you want to stay on top of what’s on TV. So if you were like me and missed Justin Timberlake’s futuresex/loveshow concert on HBO last night, you have a chance to see it again on Sept. 6th.

What an episode of Rock of Love we had this week. Crazy Lacey is STILL in the house and cute, but emotional Sam got sent home. Not without the best parting gift from Bret though - a HOT goodbye kiss.

Then there’s Heather. Why would someone in their right mind get some guy’s name tattooed on their body, let alone a guy you’re not even with. There are still three eliminations to be made and you could be one of them, Heather - what were you thinking???

Don’t believe me? Check it out with your own eyes!