Top Chef All Stars: Tiffany Derry Pack Her Knives & Goes While Mike Isabella Wins 3rd Elimination Challenge in a Row

The highlight for Top Chef's Episode 14: Island Fever, for Mike Isabella, in addition to winning his 3rd Elimination Challenge in a row, was walking onto a dock to find himself greeted by Padma in a bikini.

Padma in a bikini came after the Quickfire Challenge.

The guest judge this week was a Latin chef named Lorena Garcia, who apparently is about to host a new NBC show called America's Next Great Restaurant.

For the Quickfire the boys cooked against the girls. The two teams had one hour to make 100 plates with a perfectly consistent dish on each plate. With Padma and Lorena judging who did best.

Of course, the consistently insufferable Isabella was quite dismissive of the inferior simplistic dish the girls churned out, while his was pure daring with his handmade noodles.

But, Padma and Lorena gave the girls the win, which thoroughly annoyed Mike and Richard Blais.

Tiffany and Antonia shared  $5,000 for their win.

The next morning was when Padma greeted the four remaining chefs in a bikini. The four hopped aboard a boat to be floated to an island where they were to make a celebration dinner for the Nassau Yacht Club's 80th year in business.

The chefs were told the meal had to include the Bahama staple.

Conch.

Arriving on the island the chefs found their supply of food to work with. But no conch. And then realized they were expected to go snorkeling for the conch.

As the chefs were gearing up for snorkeling, we cut to a Richard Blais confessional where he said something like, "I don't think anyone wants to see Isabella topless. I know I don't."

Then we cut to Isabella topless.

Blais was right. But I also would have included him among those I really did not want to see topless.

I was a little surprised that the conch were so easy to find. I suspect the seabed had been salted by Top Chef producers with an ample supply of the shellfish. Or are they really that prolific in such a populated area?

The cooking conditions were very primitive. Wood fires for heat, grills to cook on. No electricity, few tools. Lots of sand.

But, there were hammer-like pick tools to whack at the conch shells. That was unpleasant to watch. Why did they not notice Mike Isabella's sticking the conch in hot water to get the meat out method?

After much angst the three hours of cooking was over with the arrival of the Yacht Club's Commodore and his crew, plus Padma, Tom, Gail and Lorena.

The non-judges seemed to like everything. The judges found something wrong with all the chef's dishes.

With Tiffany having the biggest wrong with her chowder that had chilled to cold from its intended hot.

Mike won for his conch wrapped in a banana leaf, along with other stuff stuffed in that leaf. I thought for sure he was a goner due to having added butter to the mix, with Lorena saying she did not like how greasy the butter made the dish, and with Tom also making a fuss about the butter being all wrong.

But, for some reason, unfathomable to me, they gave the Insufferable Isabella the win, which of course will make him even more insufferable.

It will be sort of amusing if Isabella wins Top Chef All Stars. The backlash from viewers will be a fun spectacle to watch, if that happens.

Top Chef All Stars: Mike Isabella Wins Again While Carla Goes Home

Mike Isabella was back being his insufferable self again this week on Top Chef. For a few minutes, last week, he was almost likable, acting normal, instead of being a boorish braggart.

Isabella won last week's Elimination Challenge. And won again this week, putting him in the Final Four, which just seems wrong.

Then again, Isabella seems to finally be performing in a way that matches the bragging.

In the Quickfire Challenge the chefs had to cook against the chef who won their season of Top Chef.

Isabella was up against Michael Voltaggio. No match. I thought. But, Isabella won. Getting either 5 or 10 thousand bucks, I can't remember which.

Tiffany and Richard also beat the chef who one their season.

And then we get to the Elimination Challenge. The finals are in the Bahamas. The chefs were told they were to cook for Bahamian Royalty. None of them knew that the Queen of England is the sovereign reigning over the Bahamas.

So, it came as a shock when they were brought to a sort of Mardis Gras type celebration cooking for the King of Junkanoo.

After doing their prep the chefs were brought to the restaurant where they'd be cooking and met the King. Not long in to the cooking a deep fryer went to flames. The fire department arrived. Chemicals got on the food. They had to start over.

Now that they knew it was not snooty royalty they'd be cooking for Antonia decided to simplify what she was cooking. That ended up not working out so well.

And for some reason Carla decided to deep-fry pork, with some of the pork being served raw, with some of that raw pork going to some of the judges. Which is what sent Carla home.

Richard Blais was in the top with Isabella. Richard sure is one insecure guy for being so good at what he does. He is like the opposite of Isabella.

Isabella, who has now won two Elimination Challenges in a row. And a Quickfire Challenge against one of Top Chef's all time best winners. I expect the insufferablity to amp up next week.

It won't pain me too much if Isabella wins. But, shouldn't he get some sort of penalty for excessively sweating into the food he is cooking? I know I would not want to eat what he cooks and seasons with his own salty sweat.

Top Chef All-Stars: No Final Four--All Five Remaining in Finals in the Bahamas

This week's episode of Top Chef was my favorite Top Chef episode ever.

It started with the five remaining chefs, Antonia Lofaso, Mike Isabella, Carla Hall, Richard Blais and Tiffany Derry being surprised to have Padma show up in their loft.

Padma directed the chefs to the roof where she pointed out Ellis Island and told them she'd be meeting them there.

Onboard the ferry to Ellis Island the chefs discover a note telling them that when the boat whistle blows they have til it blows again to make a dish from the limited supplies in the boat's pantry.

The whistle blew and much mayhem ensued as the chefs tried to make something tasty out of items like tortilla chips, hot dogs, cheese, buns and oranges.

In the end, when the whistle blew after docking on Ellis Island, Padma and guest judge, Dan Barber, came onboard to taste the food. After tasting it, it was decided that Carla's orange concoction tasted best.

Then it was on to the Elimination Challenge.

The chefs were told that a famous genealogist had been researching their family histories. And that some special people were arriving to help the chefs sort it out.

At that Antonia's mom, Mike's mom, Carla's husband, Richard's wife and Tiffany's mom walked in.

With their family member the chef's went through the info trying to figure out their heritage and what food to cook to honor that heritage.

It was around this point that the impossible happened. Mike Isabella began to turn likable. He'd not seen his mom for 6 months. We heard the story of Mike's Italian grandma teaching him to cook. And how ever since she died he could never bring himself to cook Italian dishes that she had taught him. Which was the dish he decided to cook for the challenge.

And then Antonia, looking through her history, made the shocking discovery that her arch nemesis, and she, were cousins. With that nemesis being Mike Isabella. It was darn charming watching Antonia and Mike's relationship change after they learned they were cousins. With Mike now rooting for his new cousin to make it to the finals.

Then it was off to Whole Foods to shop. Then 3 hours to cook.

The family members joined Padma, Tom, Gail and Dan Barber for the feeding.

As the dishes rolled out, one by one, nary a negative word was spoken. Tom and Gail and Padma asked questions of the relatives about the chefs. From that we learned Carla met her husband on Match.com.

After all the chefs had rolled out their food, and Tom remarked that it was all good, wondering how they could make the choice of a winner and who to send home, I think it was Antonia's mom who suggested sending all 5 to the finals.

Back in the Stew Room the chefs waited their fate. Padma summoned them all. Each talked about their inspiration. Again Mike Isabella was likable. None of that blowhard blustering he usually does. There may have been tears.

After some discussion Antonia got the win and the guaranteed spot in the Final 4. And a brand new 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Then Mike was told he was in and he could head to the Stew Room. Arriving there the two new cousins celebrated.

Richard was getting nervous. And might I add, his wife is very good-looking and was 5 months along with their 2nd kid. Padma then said to the very nervous Richard, "Please pack your knives." Long pause. "And take them to the Bahamas. You're in. You can return to the Stew Room." Richard looked as if he was about to explode and then he turned very relieved.

Go to break. After the commercials, Padma says Carla's name. Long wait, waiting for the pack your knives and go home message. Then Padma says Tiffany's name. Another long wait. And then, "You're both going to the Bahamas!"

Tom said they could not come to a decision because everyone had done so well.

I love it when I watch a Reality TV Show and I find myself changing my mind about someone. Previously I thought it would be travesty if Mike Isabella went to the finals after chefs like Angelo and Dale were sent packing. And I thought if Isabella turned out to be the winner of Top Chef All-Stars that this would be a bigger joke than when the repugnant non-All-Star, Mike "Boogie" Malin, won Big Brother All-Stars.

Now, I'm okay if Mike Isabella wins. It won't be a travesty. But, I want Carla or Antonia to win. I like both a lot.

Top Chef D.C.: Tiffany Leaves While Angelo, Kevin, Ed & Kelly Go To Singapore

I was disappointed to see Tiffany go down in flames last night on Top Chef.

This week's Elimination Challenge was to prepare a freeze driable dish for the International Space Station.

The Chefs were introduced to the challenge by two astronauts on the Space Station. And one of those, for whom they were cooking, was Apollo 11 moon walker, Buzz Aldrin.

Tiffany ran into some woes with the mussels part of her dish. That may have been her downfall. But in the end, the judges had high praise for all 5, but, with at least one judge having some issue with at least one aspect of each dish. Particularly that very picky Frenchman, Eric Rippert, who was nicely counter-balanced, this episode, by the always amusing Anthony Bourdain.

Angelo won the high stakes Quickfire with his successful wine/food pairing. He won $10,000.

Each episode we seem to learn something new about Angelo. Weeks ago some were surprised to learn he had reproduced. Then there was the revelation of some of his rituals, like Angelo's shrine to chefs he worships. Last week we learned about Angelo's Russian mail order bride to be. And this week we learned that that child we learned about weeks ago was produced during Angelo's marriage to the kid's mother. They divorced because the wife's family had no respect for the chef profession, wanting Angelo to be a doctor or lawyer.

Angelo seems to be doing fairly well for himself. At least this week on Top Chef. He recovered from the fumbles of the past couple weeks and won the Elimination Challenge, which gave him a new Toyota Avalon, a trip to London, a trip to Cape Canaveral to watch a Space Shuttle launch. And a book by Anthony Bourdain.

For the finale Top Chef is leaving the United States for the first time, heading to one of my favorite places, Singapore. The previews showed Padma taking extreme umbrage against something Kevin said or did. That should be interesting.

So, it is a final four of Angelo, Kevin, Ed and Kelly. Why does Kelly smoke? Why would any chef smoke? I don't get it. Angelo or Ed for the win. I'd be saying Tiffany for the win. But she's gone.