by Michael J. Lamp

"Where There's a Will, There's a (Crying) Top Chef"

Apparently, Richard was hoping Antonia would beat Mike, since Richard 'beat her already.' Going into tonight, I thought maybe Richard was the lesser of two evil bullies, but now I'm not so sure.

Padma and Tom tell the final two that their last challenge will be to create their dream restaurant with a four-course menu. They will serve 70 guests, the judges and a few esteemed diners.

The rest of the All-Stars cast is on hand for the finale. They are each asked to create an amuse-bouche for Mike and Blais to taste. Each chef will pick their team of three sous chefs via a blind taste test, which is hilarious, because both dudes were just talking about who they want and who they don't want on their team.

Richard picks first and goes with the ceviche of squid, created by Spike. Next, Mike takes the yogurt curry, concocted by Tiffany F. Blais then picks the chicken wing that Angelo made. Mike goes for Jamie's pork tenderloin and Blais takes Antonia's egg. Isabella rounds out the group with Carla's tropical salsa.

Mike's naming his restaurant Iz and Richard's will be called Tongue & Cheek. The teams are cooking at Atlantis restaurants. Hello, tourists!

All is going according to plan at Camp Isabella, while Richard looks like he might have bitten off a bit more than he can chew.

The guests eating with Padma begin at Tongue & Cheek. Padma's crew is Hubert Keller, Lidia Bastianich, Alfred Portale and Bill Terlato.

Over at Iz, Gail and Tom are dining with Art Smith and Curtis Stone to begin the festivities. Some heavy hitters tonight, friends.

Richard begins service with his amuse-bouche - a raw oyster with creme fraiche. His first official course is raw hamachi with veal sweet breads.

Mike's starts his guests off with a spiced beet salad, made with mozzarella, truffle and chocolate vinaigrette. He follows this up with a piece of halibut glazed with a kumquat marmalade. Richard's second course is pork belly, black cod and bone marrow.

Richard's meat dish is beef short ribs with mushrooms. Meanwhile, over at Iz, Mike is serving braised pork shoulder with pepperoni sauce. 

Richard tops his meal off with foie gras ice cream and cornbread. Mike opts for a rosemary caramel custard.

Aside from just a couple of missteps, both chefs really wowed the guest judges, as well as their often hard-to-please fellow cheftestants.  

At Judges' Table, Tom tells Mike and Richard that the food served was the best, ever, on a finale. High marks, fellas.

Padma asks the chefs to tell the judges why their restaurant should earn them the title of Top Chef. Mike talks about the chef he's become and Richard teeters on the edge of a nervous breakdown. During Richard's aforementioned freak out, he goes on about how winning means he can open the kind of restaurant he wants. Later, Tom mentions that Richard owns four restaurants. Say what?

Members of each chef's family - along with the entire All-Stars cast - are at Judges' Table for the winner announcement. And things are predictably intense. Antonia is tearing up. Spike's hand is over his mouth. Worried glances, tense music and a lot of wet eyes are what reality TV is all about, after all.

After a 59-minute build-up, Padma tells Richard that he "is Top Chef." Richard looks overwhelmed (and a little relieved), and Mike looks crushed. The other chefs rush over to congratulate both men, Richard cries in his interview and that's a wrap on Top Chef: All-Stars.

What do you think? Did Richard deserve the top prize after years of longing or was Isabella robbed? We'll talk with both chefs later today and share their thoughts on what was, quite possibly, the best season of Top Chef to date.

Top Chef: All-Stars airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on Bravo.

(Image courtesy of Bravo)

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