Top Chef:Just Desserts 11/17/10--"Finale" summary

Previously on “Top Chef: Just Desserts”: Godiva finally called in their sponsorship and everyone had to make chocolates relating to their lives, which Godiva can steal and sell later. I never go to Godiva to buy chocolates as I go to the little shop near my house that sells things like ginger caramels and chai truffles. So I don’t know if it’s any good or not. Then everyone had to make anniversary cakes for Sylvia Weinstock and her husband, which caused them to freak out. Danielle wins, because although her cake was gray on purpose it tasted delicious. Zac made a Cake Wreck so he was sent home. (click for more)

But first a montage of the season and all the crazy pants. While Yigit has very high highs, his lows are pretty low. The same goes for Danielle. Morgan has been more consistent, but if Yigit has a good day, he’ll probably take it. If.

Yigit sort of freaks out about the finale. Morgan is glad that Zac is gone and calls him an annoying little fairy. Mostly because he’s pissed Zac tried to throw him under the bus by saying he didn’t care about winning anything. Danielle is working off the boost she got from winning the last challenge. She wants to win to boost her business.

Gail waits alone to greet everyone. Yigit says her dress is “fierce” but while she does look good, it’s just a little black dress and black pumps. They get congratulations, and then she gives them their final challenge: they must create a “progressive” four course dessert tasting for 12 people. Morgan is like, uh…I can make whatever I want? There must be a catch. Gail tells them to go back to the loft and change because there is a “special surprise” waiting. Danielle watches “Top Chef” and is hoping for her mom.

They go out to a bar (which is absolutely empty) and they find Johnny just chilling and drinking a cocktail. Heh. They all just hang out with Johnny and have drinks, and he says he ordered them some desserts. They look good. Yigit thinks they are “snazzy” for a cocktail bar, and I am also suspicious. Johnny is like, hey! Let’s meet the chefs who made them! Yigit assumes it’s someone who’s been eliminated, who took a long time to cook. Oh, certainly not. It’s Elizabeth Faulkner, Sherry Yard, and Claudia Fleming. We’re going the “celebrity sous chefs” route, as opposed to the “eliminated contestants” route. Everyone freaks out. Man, having a sous chef with skills has to be even more important to a pastry chef. They draw to get matched up: Yigit with Sherry, Danielle with Elizabeth, and Morgan with Claudia. Morgan tries to pretend his cookie says “Johnny” which is actually kind of funny.

In the morning, Morgan worries that Claudia will think he’s “some ass clown who doesn’t belong here.” First of all, she’s not judging, and secondly, if that concerns you then maybe don’t act like an ass clown. Yigit whines that Morgan kept the AC on all night, and the vent is over his bed, and Morgan knew he had a cold, and whatever. You could have slept on the couch. Or, if Morgan is so hot when he sleeps, you can move the beds around. He’s not doing it on purpose to make you sick, he’s just an ass clown. Yigit says he won’t let it get to him, as he trips on the stairs. I hate when people are like, “Let me make a point to complain about this person, but you know, I’m so awesome I can forgive them.” Own your annoyance.

Shopping time. 45 minutes, $400. Danielle knows no one expected her to be here. Yigit says he would be sad to lose, especially to Morgan. Oh, I thought you were over him?! That’s why those people bug me.

7 hours to cook. Yigit notices that Morgan is a dick but Claudia is perfect so she’s got a challenge. Danielle is intimidated by Elizabeth. So she makes her shell pistachios. Really? That…seems like a waste. Sherry and Yigit dance around as he explains he wants his food to be like taking the judges on a date. His first course is a take on a gimlet. Morgan is doing primary colors for his theme. He’s making some German cake…there are circles…all I know is that the cake has individual layers that are baked separately. Danielle has no theme. She feels themes are stupid, so she’s just making a menu she wants.

Johnny has his chef jacket on today, I guess to impress the sous chefs. Danielle promises him he will love her dishes, even though they might be too far into her comfort zone. Yigit brags about how clever his menu is. He says he’s listening to what the judges said. Morgan’s theme might set him apart, possibly. That was useful.

Morgan tastes something with black pepper, and he and Claudia argue over if there is too much pepper. He starts to explain something to her, I think making “caviar” out of stuff, and Claudia just has a blank stare. She doesn’t need to know, she says. True, she just needs to keep track of containers. Sherry announces the one hour mark while she brandishes a lit blowtorch. Everyone says goodbye to the sous chefs and Yigit mentions he thinks Sherry will be a big help tomorrow so I assume the sous chefs won’t be around then.

Morgan calls home to talk to his son. He wants to spend more time with his son. OK, he’s getting choked up which is sweet. In the morning, Yigit says not winning will crush him. He was going to business school and his dad told him to do what he wanted. Then he died, so now Yigit says his chef’s jacket weighs heavily on him.

When they get to the kitchen, all the eliminated contestants are there to greet them. See, they had too many clips of Yigit being excited to work with Sherry again. Gail says that their celebrity sous chefs are actually diners. Oo. Everyone gets one eliminated contestant to work with. Ew, that means that a whole bunch of them had to show up for no reason. Actually…if Seth hadn’t gone mental, there would be 9 eliminated contestants--three per finalist. So I wonder if they were supposed to get a whole team, but since there are only 8 of them now (Seth isn’t there), they changed it so they only get one each? Morgan immediately declares he will walk out if he is stuck with Zac. Yigit draws Tim’s name, Danielle gets Tania (the first person out), and Morgan draws Heather H. Morgan says he doesn’t trust her, but I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t trust anyone. The remaining 5 get to eat. Heh. So surprise! You’re serving 17 people instead of 12! That is so pointless. It’s the finale. This twist is unnecessary.

3 hours to finish. Heather hates Morgan too, so this should be fun. She hopes Morgan doesn’t win. But will she sabotage him? Yigit knows he has a problem finishing his dishes. Morgan is making soufflés. For some reason he’s making them in ring molds, and Heather is actually being helpful by sugaring the molds (as you would do in a normal soufflé) but of course Morgan is making special magic soufflé that you can’t sugar, or whatever, so he says he wants her to sit in the corner and not sabotage his food. Did you tell her it was special soufflé? No? Then be quiet. Danielle’s first dish is a cheese course. Good for her. Yigit is making yogurt caviar. Yigit says you have to be careful with it and know what you’re doing, but Morgan is trying to do the same thing and failing. His base is too thick? Or he’s left it in the solution too long? Whatever the case, it’s not turning out right and Yigit wonders why he doesn’t ask Heather for help. Oh, like THAT’S going to happen. Yigit says AGAIN how he would be upset if he lost, so I guess the editors want to make absolutely sure we know how important it is to him. We get it. You can stop now.

There are a lot of big names in the dining room. Claudia complains to James Oseland that she has “Morgan rage”. Heh. First course time. Yigit says something about “a dance we’re going to have through my palate”. Cucumber and lime sorbet with Straus yogurt caviar pearls. That sounds good. Morgan: passion fruit cannolli with mango carpaccio, fluid gel, and tarragon jelly. Danielle: hazelnut cake with Spanish goat cheese and fig jam. Yum. Morgan’s dish is pretty to look at. They like the tarragon jelly. They love Yigit’s sorbet, and they find Danielle’s dish very good and they’re impressed with how much work she put into it.

Morgan’s second dish is technically “blue” but is not really blue. Yigit wonders about it. Also Morgan’s caviar didn’t set up, so it’s just mush right now. Second course. Yigit: strawberry sorbet and lemongrass ginger ice cream with berry meringue and consommé. Morgan: blueberry pavlova with lemon cream in citrus chamomile broth and chamomile pearls. I think the “pearls” are what didn’t set up. Maybe the broth is the remnants of that too. Danielle: a “palate cleanser” of Mayer lemon parfait, pomelo and tangerine sorbet, and muscato granita. The judges praise Yigit’s dish for its restraint. Danielle’s plating kind of fails, but it tastes good. Morgan’s point of view is good but didn’t go far enough. Yeah…it’s not really “blue”. I’m not seeing his color story or whatever.

Morgan tries to unmold his soufflés which did not bake evenly and are falling down. Morgan admits Heather is keeping him together, but does not apologize for accusing her of sabotaging him on purpose. They try to give the best soufflés to the judges but that doesn’t exactly work out. Third course. Yigit: muscovado braised pineapple and coconut cake, coconut lime soup with tapioca pearls. Morgan: manjari chocolate soufflé cake with raspberry sorbet and cocoa nib paper. Danielle: baked Alaska, strawberry sundae, and a root beer float. Yigit did very well, while Morgan’s soufflés have collapsed. But not everyone’s. Danielle’s baked Alaska is wonderful, and she used strawberry chips to add texture and extra flavor.

Morgan notices that Yigit is serving a lot of sorbet. Yeah…he kind of is. Final course. Finally. Yigit: hazelnut dacquoise, milk jam, and salted caramel ice cream. Dacquoise is a cake layered with meringue or cream. Morgan: white pepper crème brulee, black pepper baumkuchen, and blackberry anise macaron. Baumkuchen is the layer cake he had talked about before. Danielle: chocolate pudding cake with pistachio ice cream. They love Yigit’s milk jam candy. Someone thinks his ice cream doesn’t have enough caramel. Danielle’s dish lacks salt. Morgan has like, 20 layers in his baumkuchen. Everyone toasts themselves, and Morgan says Danielle and Yigit both had boring food so he’s going to win. Yeah…I think I was right.

Commercial interlude: everyone talks about how great this experience was. Jeez, couldn’t you find something more entertaining?

Gail reminds the three finalists of what they’re playing for. Morgan says this is some of the best food he’s made ever, Yigit feels the judges know him so well it’s like they went on a date, and Danielle wanted to show them something new. She describes her ice cream sampler, and Johnny says he loved how nostalgic it was. They also loved her homemade root beer. Gail wants to follow her around and make Danielle make her honey candy. Hee. She also knows her chocolate pudding makes you want to stop eating, but Johnny tells her the pulled sugar was pointless. Like sprigs of mint in the 80’s. Honey, people still do that. Danielle winces. But the pistachio ice cream was good. Yigit’s date metaphor worked for his dishes. His second course had consommé, which the waiters poured tableside. Sadly Johnny’s waiter did it wrong, and soaked his meringue in consommé so it got soggy. Also I was wrong, Yigit’s third course was warm, which made it a good contrast to all his ice cream and sorbet. Morgan says his top tray of soufflés didn’t cook enough. Plus, even though they tell the waiters things like “take these ones to the judges” the waiters NEVER do that so ¾ of the judges got soufflés that collapsed. I think the producers must wait outside the kitchen and give the waiters alternate instructions. Morgan swore he’d never make a macaron again, but it was delicious.

Everyone did a good job. Yigit’s progression was wonderful and he pushed himself. Danielle was the underdog, and Johnny felt she did the best job of planning her tasting. Gail will remember her baked Alaska. Morgan went all out. He’s technically perfect, except for the soufflé. Johnny points out that he’s won the most eliminations. Gail thinks it will come down to the details and mistakes.

The judges are proud of everyone, good job, etc. The winner is Yigit! Don’t doubt my reading of the editing, people. At least Morgan didn’t win. Morgan and Danielle talk about how great he is, but they seem pretty OK with it. Oh, and he wins a car, that he can try to park in San Francisco, where there are more registered drivers than there parking spaces. Have fun with that!

In two weeks: “Top Chef All Stars”!