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Bravo's Top Chef Season 19 has finally come to an end after a jaw-dropping finale. The final episode of the reality cooking show aired on Thursday, June 2, 2022 at 8.00 PM ET on the television network.
Three finalists, Evelyn Garcia, Buddha Lo, and Sarah Welch, gave it their all to compete against each other. The crown for this season was taken by Buddha Lo.
Fans were happy with the judges' decision. One tweeted:
The Emmy-winning culinary show was filmed in Texas' most diverse and culturally rich city, Houston. Fifteen talented chefs entered the competition to battle it out against each other to try and survive every week.
Top Chef's host Padma Lakshmi also judged the contestants' dishes along with other head judges and culinary legends, including Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons.
Top Chef alumni join the finalists for an exciting elimination challenge
The three finalists were set for a tough battle ahead in the elimination challenge. For the same, they were asked to prepare a four-course meal that would highlight the native ingredients and could each take the help of a sous-chef.
They were also given a considerable amount of $1500 to shop from a variety of shops to use it in their respective meals.
The contestants chose the chefs they were most comfortable cooking alongside and were eliminated previously this season. Sara Welch chose Robert Hernandez (placed 12th), Evelyn Garcia chose fellow contestant Jo Chan (placed 10th) and Buddha Lo chose Jackson Kalb (placed 9th).
These sous-chefs helped the finalists make some of their best dishes in the final round of the competition.
Following were the four-course meals that the finalists cooked.
1) Sara Welch
- First Course - Vension Tartare with Sonoran Focaccia and Smoked Butter
- Second Course - Squash Tortellini in corn broth with three-sister salad
- Third Course - Rabbit Ballotine with grains, nuts and greens salad
- Fourth Course - Smoked buttermilk ice-cream with acorn cake
2) Buddha Lo
- First Course - Himachi with Caviar
- Second Course - Lobster Laksa
- Third Course - Mongolian Lamb
- Fourth Course - Pumpkin Pie Mille-Feuille
3) Evenlyn Garcia
- First Course - Scallop Crudo
- Second Course - Crystal dumplings with aromatic broth
- Third Course - Goat Curry Mole
- Fourth Course - Bunelo with cajeta panna cotta, cardamom whipped cream and basil
All three of them had equal chances of winning and paid homage to the themes that they were most inspired by. Sarah built her dishes around a hunter-gatherer theme, Evelyn created dishes inspired by her hometown and this season's filming location - Houston and Buddha wanted to pay tribute to America for giving him an opportunity to shine as a chef.
Judges chose Buddha Lo as Top Chef for Season 19
Host of Top Chef Padma Lakshmi judged the dishes along with head judges for the show Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons. Other judges who critiqued the four-course meal by the finalists included legendary chef and co-owner of Le Bernadin Eric Ripert, Top Chef Boston and All Stars L.A contestant Gregory Gourdet, Editor in Chief, Food & Wine Hunter Lewis, Restaurer and Cookbook Author Ed Lee, among many others.
Experts were impressed by the variety that the finalists showed but had various elements to critique on. For Sarah, some dishes were under or overcooked in some parts, Evelyn's dishes lacked a fine line of balance and Buddha's dishes, although great, had less quantity in some cases.
However, it was Buddha's dishes that impressed the judges above and beyond. They deemed his dishes similar to a three-star Michelin course and awarded him the coveted title and the cash prize of $250,000. He revealed that it was an homage/tribute to his father who passed away just before he was called on to come on Top Chef.
Check out what fans had to say about Buddha and others.
Bravo's Top Chef viewers awaited every episode, primarily because of the high quality status that the series had in its previous seasons. Some of the contestants have gone ahead and become culinary superstars.
Every season is a testament to the show's quality and the interesting challenges that are thrown their way that make them improve as chefs and change their lives.
