Hi Brian! Sorry to bother you here, but I'm getting desperate! I've looked and looked and looked and (obviously) must have missed and missed and missed! I NEED to know which Top Chef was chosen as the Fan Favorite for the most recent season.

I voted faithfully and have looked for results ever since Season 5 ended.

Would you PLEASE, PLEASE help me out? Thanks for very much.

Fan from the very First... Celia

First off Brian, its great to see a Western Culinary Alum doing very well! But your panning of Wylie is a bit irritating..why must people turn there nose at such things?

What does Iron Chef have to do with this? It's a completely different show.

If what is expected on Top Chef is to conform to the challenge regardless of the chef's personal style and areas of expertise, I'm extremely disappointed in the show. I would think that one of the hallmarks of a true top chef should be the things that set them apart from others in the business, not the degree to which they can conform to the same stuff everyone else is doing. Are we not looking for creativity here as well as skill?

As for the Masters, why would you invite someone like DuFresne on the show and then expect them not to cook the food that they're known for, the food that presumably got them the invite in the first place? Were you expecting Keller not to use French techniques? Should Bayless not use Mexican influences when his turn comes? Perhaps Besch should avoid New Orleans cuisine.

It's not as though DuFresne even did anything terribly far out there. It wasn't, like, some chicken broth foam and "eggs" made of cauliflower and pickled daikon pureed and chemically formed into concentric spheres or whatever. It was chicken and eggs, cooked sous vide. What's so limiting and offputting about that?

Brian you are spot on. I'm rooting for Moonen for those same reason - I think he'll cook what's right for the contest rather than a signature style. So good to see a the pro's with decades of experience . . . rather than the newbies who are accomplished but oftentimes make boneheaded choices revealing their inexperience. Keep up the quality blog!

John Besh!

I don't appreciate your comments on Wylie, especially since I believe that he is a brilliant chef, a visionary and innovator. Something I can't imagine you will ever be (although you might be a very good chef).
I've eaten at wd-50 and it was an amazing experience, although very expensive one. Will I go there next time I'm starving? Probably not. But not because the food isn't great.
I find molecular gastronomy to be a form of art. You'll enjoy going to a museum and admire it, but you wouldn't necessarily use it to decorate your bedroom. The same way that you'll appreciate the artistic value of a designer's creation going down the runway, but wouldn't necessarily wear it to work.
In these case you would never mock the artist / designer / creator, so I don’t think you should criticize Wylie's creativity either.

i'd go with hubert i think. he seems really good at letting his natural instincts stay intact while still appreciating the weird top chef challenges. we'll see as it goes on. it would be pretty awesome if art smith won, since he seems like such a great guy.

nice commentary by the way. i think you may be being a bit overly harsh, but honesty is better than asskissing any day.

I believe the Iron Chefs are given three possible ingredients ahead of time, so they are able to prepare but not know exactly which one it'll be. Different format, different show. Still love Top Chef the most, but enjoy ICA also. I laughed by butt off watching Wylie. He's obviously ultra-competitive. I like John Besh.

Brian, I don't know where you find the time and extra energy to write your Blogs, but they are amazing. So much fun to read. Wish you were still on Top Chef because
you were so over the TOP in everything you did. That must be your life style. You should have your own show. Heard you had a little baby boy. Congratulations. Keep up with the great blogs.

I’m pulling for Rick Bayless all the way, excluding Top Chef, Mexico: One Plate at a Time is my favorite cooking show of all time (followed closely by José Andrés’ brilliant Made in Spain), the show that truly hooked me on food. Anyways, keep posting Brian, your blogs are always interesting and entertaining, I appreciate your perspective.

Excellent point on how teams of chefs magically know who needs to do what in order to create multiple dishes on a menu where the featured ingredient is kept secret. Let's see how they'd handle the Top Chef kitchen!

Pretty harsh commentary on molecular gastronomy. But I've never had it, so I can appreciate the varied opinions.

I picked Hubert Keller, Rick Bayless, Michael Chiarello, John Besh, Roy Yamaguchi, and Rick Moonen as the final six (but I'm not sure who the match-ups are in the coming weeks).

Malarkey! You are just so entertaining. I still rewatch your season cuz you were just so much fun. I've got a huge crush on you, Brian, so you can bet that I'll be reading your blog every week. Keep up the good work!

Your commentary of Wylie is a bit off-base, considering that he had the second-highest rated main course, losing to Suzanne by only half a point (he had 3 on the quickfire while she got 5, and they ended with 20 and 22.5, respectively).