Top Chef All Stars: Lorena Garcia America’s Next Great Restaurant be The Guest Judge

The guest judge for the quickfire is Lorena Garcia, who can be seen on America’s Next Great Restaurant. This challenge was about consistency: making the same dish the same way. The chefs had to divide themselves into teams and make 100 identical dishes. Tiffany and Antonia were a pair and Richard and Mike were the other.

For the Elimination Challenge, the chefs had to go find their own conch for the lunch they were to prepare. The Top Chef All Stars had to go swimming and could use what they found. They also had very basic cooking supplies. It was all skill, no magic technology. The chefs had to make sure to keep the sand out of their food, as they were cooking right on the beach.

Though Mike Isabella is not really one of my favorites, it was his dish that I’d want to try the most out of the Top Chef All Stars’ dishes. And wow, the judges agreed with me and announced Mike as the winner as the challenge, so he’s moving on to the Top Chef finale.

The other three had to listen to Tom tell them what was wrong with their dishes before Padma announced that Tiffany had to pack her knives and go.

And I agree. I think Mike did it right. He focused on the flavors of the island and really put his own Bahamian spin on things. I’m usually on Richard’s side, but I do think Mike was deserving of this win.