Top Chef wraps up Season 9 on Wednesday with its reunion episode (9/8c, Bravo), and if you ask us, it couldn't come a moment sooner.
That's not because we want to see Heather and Beverly square off, but we want to move on as quickly as possible from this underwhelming season. The series proudly boasted about its biggest season ever — 29 contestants! three cities! — in the state with the biggest motto of all, Texas, but it turns out bigger is not necessarily better. Between the new twists and the umpteenth team challenge, Season 9 was but a shadow of its former Emmy-winning self — and that's not even counting the overwrought drama between Beverly and Heather, Sarah and Lindsay. (Let's be real — there'll be drama every season.) Here are six reasons Top Chef: Texas has been a big letdown.
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Sarah Grueneberg came up short to Paul on the Top Chef finale, but if you ask her, she did win. "I feel like I won too," she tells TVGuide.com. "I truly believe that. I woke up [the day after the finale aired] with this great calm. There is no more nervousness and nothing to be ashamed about. I'm really excited for my career now. It was overall a positive experience. I can't be more proud of how I did. If I'm going to be second, I couldn't think of a better way and a better place to be." But what part of her final meal cost her the title and $125,000? See what she thinks below. Plus: What's up with her and Beverly?
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[SPOILER ALERT: The following story reveals the winner of Top Chef Season 9. Read at your own risk.]
After trekking through Texas and enduring more all-nighters and meat challenges than you can imagine, Paul Qui and Sarah Grueneberg faced off for the last time for the Top Chef Season 9 title.
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When does frozen mousse trump perfectly cooked halibut? When you're on Top Chef! Despite her nearly inedible, ice-hard confection, Sarah — with some major backing from Tom Colicchio — made it to the finale with Paul over her pal Lindsay Autry, whose error-free, albeit less creative, dish sent her packing. "I think they were really nitpicking at that point and it came down to doing something risky like what she did against me being great, but not risky enough," Lindsay tells TVGuide.com. "I know I didn't make any mistakes, but I guess they wanted to see more." Was she surprised that her well-made dish lost to such shoddy execution? Find out below.
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After re-entering the competition following her Last Chance Kitchen victory and earning a spot in the final four, Beverly Kim's second Top Chef stint came to a quick end when she lost all three rounds in the Olympics-inspired tasks. "I was eliminated twice! How many people can say that? I think it was easier to watch this time, but it was still very heartbreaking for me," she tells TVGuide.com. "I really did want to win and I definitely wanted to go all the way. I wasn't ready to go so early the first time. I think this time was OK. I hoped for more, but given the circumstances, I gave my best. I'm really glad that I made it far enough to show my cooking, so now people can see who I am." But the Chicago-based chef couldn't show off her culinary style completely in the challenges that were more Top Athlete than Top Chef. Does she think the challenges were unfair? And does she hold any grudges toward Sarah, Lindsay and Heather? Find out below.
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