'Top Chef' recap: Finally! It's Over

top-chef-texas.jpgPaul and Sarah learn that their final challenge is to create a four-course tasting menu in the restaurant of their dreams. But first, there is a competition to be the sous-chefs for the finalists amongst some of the eliminated cheftestants, the last two out before the show started, and two professional chefs. Paul and Sarah taste the dishes and pick their sous chefs using those. Paul gets Barbara (one of the master chefs), Ty-Lor, Keith, and Chris Hollywood. Sarah gets Heather, Nyesha, Tyler (the weirdo who screwed up the butchering in the first challenge), and Grayson. They get six hours to prep on day one, three hours to cook on day two, and they have to serve a hundred people.

Sarah has to ride herd on Tyler, who didn't get eliminated first for no reason. He's really annoying and inefficient and keeps asking questions and making suggestions instead of just putting his head down and getting **** done. Lucky for her, the women on her team are incredible. Paul's team seems to be doing well until there is a crab problem and Paul has to rework one of his dishes. Luckily, he has shrimp as a backup and slides it in with no problem.

There are two sets of judges, and they rotate between the two restaurants.

Here are Paul's dishes:

First course: chawanmushi (Asian egg custard), edamame, pea shoots, and spot prawns. The first round of judges like the flavor profile and the texture, but the second rounds gets overcooked and Paul doesn't have any extra eggs to make a new batch.

Second course: grilled sea bass with clam dashi, pickled radishes, and mushrooms. The first round of judges think it's really beautiful, and Tom adds that it was well balanced and you can't fault it at all. The second round think it's cooked perfectly and has great crispy skin.