Top Chef Predictions [Please Read and Possible Spoilers Inside]

[The Chowhound Team]

Hi Folks:

Since many posters have contacted us about predictions that are being made regarding Top Chef on this board, we are starting this thread. We ask that any posters who want to make predictions and discuss them do so here, and not on any threads that discuss the episodes themselves. We hope that this will satisfy those who feel as if predictions spoil the future shows for them, while giving those who wish to engage in predictions the opportunity to do so.

Please help us moderate these threads by posting accordingly

Thanks!

[Lonbeehold]

Just to clarify, the photo I am referring to has the caption "Top Chef Outcasts Tell All." Pictured are the 7 known eliminated chefs and one more.

[chicgail]

Is that photo still up there? I looked for it and couldn't find it. Can you give me some guidance on how to navigate to it?

[LabRat]

This is a response to chicgail, but for some reason I get an error when I try to reply directly to her post. The ads cycle, so just keep an eye out when you go between boards. I just saw it a few minutes ago, so it is still up. The ad is for audio interviews with the Top Chef rejects.

Good observation Lonbeehold, I had seen that ad dozens of times and hadn't noticed that one of them hadn't been cut yet.

[Lonbeehold]

Does the Chowhound photo on the homepage contain a spoiler?? There is one chef in the picture who has not yet been eliminated.

[biskuit]

Not a spoiler, just coincidence. It's a cropped version of a pre-season publicity photo. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia...

There are several cut chefs who aren't shown in the photo, it just so happens that Spike, Lisa and Stephanie are among those on the periphery and cropped out.

[LindaWhit]

Huh? Stephanie's in the lower right, Spike's in the far left (with his hat) and Lisa has her kerchief covering her head in the upper right, I believe.

[momjamin]

Right -- biskuit's link is to the full publicity shot with everyone. The photo that appears on the rotating chow.com link (to listen to Meredith's interviews with the eliminated players) is cropped from that, and is not a spoiler showing chow.com's advance knowledge of some order of elimination.

[HarryK]

My understanding is one goes this week. Then two at once the next week correct? It seems season two went that way, but confused as season three was a three-way.

Going by that assumption then, and from the commercial I heard today it said "one more show before the two-part finale" suggests that is true .. then ...

I'd say next week will be Spike or Lisa.

And then I'd say the two finalists will be Richard and ... (here's where I'm still unsure) either Stephanie or Antonia.

If I recall the Quick Fire that was the tasting test correctly, Antonia was number one. (That I know.) And Stephanie (I think) was tied for bottom. Based on that -- which will come out in the cooking in the next two weeks -- I'm going to go with that say it's Richard vs. Antonia.

Who will be Top Chef? ..... Too close to guess for me, but yeah, even I would love to see a woman win. So I'm rooting for Antonia.

[moto]

HarryK, you can be sure that bravo is well aware that viewers want a woman to get the grand prize, and one blunder (and he's made some) could easily get Blais getting booted before the final two.

[attractivekid]

based on the previews for next week, it looks as if Rick Tramonto slams Spike for serving scallops that are still frozen in the middle, which will send him packing his knives. Either Richard or Lisa picks up the win, with an innovative method of incorporating sweetbreads into their steak dish.

[MMRuth]

I'm just curious - where do you see these previews? Don't remember seeing any of that at the end of last night's episode. Does Bravo show other ones during the week that I'm missing?

[attractivekid]

go to Bravo's website and under videos it's broken down into full episodes, exit interviews, bonus footage, and previews

[Ali]

There are previews that Bravo will show on its website. I don't know that they're different from the ones on TV (have DVR, don't watch commercials/previews), but I'm guessing that's where attractivekid is watching these ridiculous previews that tells you what happens on the next show.

[attractivekid]

yeah, those and the commercials that run on Bravo pretty much clue me in, not to mention this late in the season, you can kind of tell who does what.

e.g. I kind of had a hunch that Antonia had to have won the restaurant wars QF based on how the teams were put together. Obviously no one on Dale's won the QF, so you can rule them out. Knowing Richard and Stephanie's history, had one of them won the QF, they would have choose Dale as the third teammate.

[Ali]

Well, if you're to go that route, there's nothing innovative about Lisa on this show (though she well be innovative in her restaurant). The only thing that's been hailed as innovative from her was the bacon, and other than the way she cooked the bacon, the flavourings weren't very original. Therefore, you can pretty much deduct that it's Richard, though that might be an easy (and therefore off the mark) guess since he's "the innovative one."

I'm hoping your guess is right on Spike, though. Much as I don't like Lisa, Spike actually doesn't seem to be able to cook very well, and I'd like to see him go before we hit Puerto Rico.

[attractivekid]

the only reason I think it's possible that it's Lisa is because using sweetbreads isn't that innovative for someone like Richard. though I do think it's a bit too much for someone without that much experience like Spike (who choose scallops) and definitely Antonia, who probably used something really basic that you could find in your own pantry.

[tofuburrito]

Well I would say that is speculation rather than something you know. I would chose Antonia over Dale to have on my team.

[Ruth Lafler]

But Dale is a very strong cook, and he and Richard have worked well together, so I don't doubt that Richard would have chosen him. I'm not sure Stephanie would have, though.

[attractivekid]

I would have guess she'd have picked him over Antonia based on pure technical skill, they used to work together at Spring

[Chimayo Joe]

I saw a spoiler a few weeks ago that said it's Stephanie and Spike in the final. That doesn't sound very likely to me--so unlikely that having seen it hasn't affected my enjoyment of the show.. I hope it's Stephanie and Richard. Even Antonia would be better than Spike. I might give Spike an edge over Lisa, but those two are far below the other three.

[momjamin]

Well, the only good thing about that scenario is that it would be easy to pick someone to root for! Not that I want to see it...

[LindaWhit]

Thank you CH Team. While I haven't read the Restaurant Wars thread yet, as I forgot to watch the show last night (doing so tonight) I'm assuming this post is as a result of something said there. Would much rather NOT have to read what some feel is OK to write in the weekly episode threads. It's been very frustrating to open those episode threads only to have information given out by an insider before the episode has been aired.

[melly]

Don't read the threads until you have seen it. I didn't watch it until this morning...I DVR'd it.

[LindaWhit]

I did wait to read the thread (VERY hard to do every time I clicked on My Chow and saw there were new posts!) until I watched it tonight. I did catch your comment re: Dale being gone just as I posted my response and the screen scrolled down to my post, so I did know that. But I still enjoyed the episode a lot.

[melly]

I hope Stephanie and Richard go head to head. I like em both. Antonia is nice, but not a top chef IMO. Glad Dale is gone.

[Chew on That]

I completely agree! I'm crossing my fingers for Stephanie/Richard throwdown. But I have to say...I have no clue who would win between the two! Being from Chicago though, I want Stephanie to win!