Last night was the season finale of “Top Chef: DC,” and the outcome was a bit of a surprise, maybe shocking to many of you. The three finalists–Kevin, Ed and Angelo–had to create a four-course meal for a bunch of celebrity diners that included Dana Cowin from Food & Wine Magazine and David Chang. There had to be a vegetable dish, a fish dish, a meat dish and a dessert. Each chef would have a sous chef–a winner from a previous season. Ed was paired with Ilan Hall from Season 2, Hung Huynh from Season 3 with Angelo, and Kevin with Michael Voltaggio from last season (the two have worked together before).

Things were thrown into a tizzy when Angelo was sick in bed with the flu, and the doctor gave him a 20% chance of being able to cook the following day. But the doc gave him a shot and Angelo was good to go, but not before having to have his sous chef prep by phone that first day. Oh, and judges Tom Colicchio and Eric Ripert went and bought the proteins at the Singapore markets for the challenge, and had threatened that “monkey was in season.” Yikes. But they wound up with stuff like rouget, cuttlefish and duck.

For their final dishes, here is what they made:

Angelo: pickled royale mushrooms with pork belly; Asian bouillabaisse; sauteed duck breast with foie gras; and coconut/vanilla cream.

Kevin: eggplant turrine; rouget with cuttlefish and noodles; roasted duck breast with dumplings; and a Singapore sling with tropical fruits.

Ed: summer corn veloute; stuffed rouget; duck two ways (roasted duck and stuffed duck neck); and sticky toffee pudding.

Ed, while considered a favorite the last few weeks, took a nosedive with his dessert, and when Colicchio called him out on it, he back-pedaled with some weird defense mechanism about not making lemon curd because he would have screwed it up. Huh?

Meanwhile, Angelo had a few flaws in his meal, but Kevin had fewer. In fact, the judges were practically having orgasms over Kevin’s Sling dessert. I think Gail Simmons wanted to recruit him for her new dessert show right then and there. So in the end, as the chefs faced the judges, Padma uttered the words, “Kevin…..” “Yes?” he replied. “You are Top Chef.” He was shocked, but I don’t think Ed or Angelo were. Kevin was like the sneaky underdog the last 8 weeks or so, after facing elimination a few times. Maybe that was his risky strategy, but either way, he wowed the judges in Singapore and that’s why he won.

So that’s all, folks. It’s been a pleasure blogging this season with you again, and I look forward to the next one, whenever that is. Thanks for reading!

It’s hard to believe we’re already at the season’s end of “Top Chef DC,” but we are. The final four squared off last night in Singapore and went from four down to three.

(Please note in photo above that “Top Chef” won a well-deserved Emmy a few weeks back for best reality show, beating out “The Amazing Race.”)

After the four chef-testants–Angelo, Kelly, Kevin and Ed–arrived in the “market” area of Singapore, they were enjoying the different foods and then of course came across host Padma Lakshmi, who introduced them to food authority Seetoh. They had to cook a street food dish that kept in mind the flavors of Singapore for Seethoh and Padma and this was a high stakes quick fire challenge–the winner would have immunity, therefore securing a spot in the finale automatically. Wow.

Angelo made “chili frog legs,” which were a take on chili crab. Kelly made noodles with a shellfish broth; Kevin made a seafood stew, and admitted he’d never cooked with a wok before this. Padma gave him a hard time, (playfully) berating him for not having practiced before making this trip. And Ed made noodles with lobster. Seetoh would pick the winning dish, and he chose Ed’s, giving Ed immunity for the elimination challenge last night.

The elimination challenge would be a team challenge, where the four chefs would cook dishes for Dana Cowin, editor of Food & Wine Magazine, and 80 of her friends along with judges Tom Colicchio, Padma and Gail Simmons. As the chefs were busy in the kitchen, Colicchio approached them and told them that making one dish each was not good, and he asked them to come up with one more dish each. They each made something in the form of an appetizer.

Ed, despite having immunity, wanted to put his best foot forward. He made pork two ways and a banana chili fritter.

Kevin made Southeast Asian clam chowder, and a rice porridge with a perfectly cooked poached egg on top

Kelly made fish head curry, but with prawns instead of fish heads; and a cucumber/yogurt soup with fish.

And Angelo made a lamb tartare, and a spicy shrimp and dumpling soup.

As the judges were eating, they all loved all of the dishes, and Colicchio said he thought the food last night was the best of this season. That was especially impressive considering not all of them were comfortable with an Asian theme. He also said Ed’s banana chili fritters were something the stoners in Greenwich Village would love. Funny stuff!

So there would be one winner and one person going home. The winner was Ed…so not only did he have immunity, but he won this challenge and would have made it to the finale anyway.

As for the other three, the judges found small flaws in each soup that they made. The texture of the fish in Kelly’s soup was weird; Angelo’s soup was too salty; and Kevin’s chowder wasn’t perfect. But they had to send one person home…and that was…Kelly. Too bad, I was hoping she’d make the finale. But it’s now down to Ed, Angelo and Kevin. I’m beyond surprised that Kevin has made it this far! Remember he was on the chopping block more than once. Interesting.

So there you have it….last season it was the brothers Voltaggio and Kevin; this season it’s Ed, Angelo and Kevin, and while Kevin has done well, I think this is a race to the finish between Ed and Angelo, with Ed having a slight edge. He sure has won a ton of challenges lately after flying under the radar the first half of the season. So I like Ed to win…who do you like? Let me know in the comment box, and see you all next week for the finale!