Top Chef: Stephanie takes it home!

Time Out New York - New York, NY, USA - The finale for season four of Top Chef did an admirable job of ratcheting up the suspense, but in the end, the decision was inevitable. There’s been enough contention on the Internet about this finally being the season in which a female Top Chef would be crowned, and conspiracy theories aside, the last few episodes have shaped up just so.

The episode kicked off with a quick overview of the contestants’ feelings on their journey thus far, and what lay ahead. Stephanie wanted to overcome her nerves, Lisa was convinced she deserved to be there (and surprisingly—perhaps for the first time ever—demonstrated it effectively), and Richard expressed his disbelief that she was still hanging on.

The chefs met Tom and Padma, who were joined by three of New York’s most celebrated chefs: TC favorite Eric Ripert, and newcomers to reality TV Dan Barber (Blue Hill) and April Bloomfield (Spotted Pig). The three would act as sous chefs for the contestants. Richard and Stephanie had both won four eliminations up to that point, so there was a knife-pulling ceremony to determine who would pick first. Stephanie went with Ripert, Richard with Barber, and Lisa got Bloomfield.

The challenge was simple: Create a four-course meal progressing through fish, fowl, red meat and dessert. During prep, Lisa and April got along and were chitchatting through most of the work—the irony of which was not lost on Richard or Stephanie, as Lisa’s personality grated on almost everyone else. Lisa attributed their shared “edgy” personalities as the reason for the connection. At one point, Richard had all three guest chefs crowded around him as he demonstrated how to use liquid nitrogen to make ice cream without crystals, creating a smoother, richer consistency.