Top Chef All-Stars Episode 6 Rankings
Because of strong performances in the last episode, I have moved up both Dale Talde and Carla Hall. For the opposite reason, I have moved Marcel down. We are getting closer to where everyone belongs, based upon both skill and performance.
I’m keeping Angelo at No. 1 and Blais at No. 2. I didn’t actually see anything in this last episode to change my mind. Even though Richard’s group ended up on the bottom, it was not really his fault so much as it was Marcel’s lack of editing.
I’m very pleased that Season 4 – my favorite season – still has three chefs remaining and all are highly ranked: I have Richard at 2, Dale at 3 and Antonia at 4. To compare these rankings with Dom’s, he currently has Dale at 1, Richard at 3 and Antonia at 5. Personally, I have a hard time putting Dale above Richard, even though he is a terrific chef. I think that Dale has a little hero-worship on Richard and tends to place himself below the chef he admires most. I think Dale has an excellent chance to go the finals, assuming he doesn’t melt down like he did in Season 4.
While I have great admiration for Carla, I haven’t been knocked out by her cooking. She has two EC wins and that gives her two more than Richard, but I just don’t sense a level of creativity to elevate her further. I realize that she is a fan favorite and that she is classically trained, but I don’t see her reaching the finals.
Antonia, on the other hand, has performed well above expectations. It is easy to forget that she went to the finals in Season 4, although she finished fourth. This year, she seems to be a little more creative and seems to have elevated her game.
Marcel, however seems to be riding on fumes right now. We know that he is creative, but his overworking the recipe in this last episode almost got him eliminated. He swings for the fences, but when he misses, it is usually a pure whiff of air.
If I had to pick a Middle-of-the-Pack, it would consist of one chef – Michael Isabella. He has great potential to be a solid cook, but I think he has consistency issues that will ultimately hold him back.
My bottom consists of Fabio, Tre and Tiffany. I have actually moved Fabio up, as I think he has played a good game and he can bust out good food when you least expect it. Tre hasn’t really shown me much this season and that is even more true for Tiffany. She had a remarkable turnaround in the last season, but I don’t think she has brought anything to the table for All-Stars.
Now we get to the real meat of the show, Restaurant Wars. It is the forge that makes or breaks most chefs. It should be even more interesting, as each of the remaining chefs has been through RW during their own season. I’m hoping that it will be very good, but we all know that the potential for meltdown is amazing.
Enjoy!
1. Angelo Sosa. Last week: No. 1.
2. Richard Blais. Last week: No. 2.
3. Dale Talde. Last week: No. 4.
4. Antonia Lafaso. Last week: No. 6.
5. Carla Hall. Last week: No. 7.
6. Marcel Vigneron. Last week: No. 3.
7. Michael Isabella. Last week: No. 8.
8. Fabio Viviandi. Last week: No. 12.
9. Tre Wilcox. Last week: No. 10.
10. Tiffany Derry. Last week: No. 11.
Eliminated:
I have ranked the eliminated chefs in the order that I think they ultimately belong – not in the order of elimination. There is a lot of room for argument here, but this isn’t based on personality or performance within the game. It is subjective.
11. Jamie Lauren. Last week: No. 9.
12. Tiffani Faison. Last week: No. 5.
13. Jennifer Carroll
14. Casey Thompson
15. Spike Mendelsohn
16. Dale Levitski
17. Elia Aboumrad
18. Stephen Asprinio
