Obviously this is a HUGE spoiler alert…

The show started and a stayed pretty straight forward. There wasn’t much in the realm of the show’s shtick of throwing a twist or turn that would normally have involved hunting down their main course protein using only their bare hands. It was straight to the point. Each chef left standing had to “open the restaurant of their dreams” which seems simple, but try and recall the identical ‘Restaurant Wars’ challenge that takes place every season. It’s never as easy as it seems.

Past eliminated chefs joined Richard Blais and Michael Isabella in the Bahamas. The cut chefs competed for a spot as Richard and Mike’s sous chef team. They each had to make an amuse bouche to wow the final two. Blaise chose Spike, Angelo and Antonia as his team while Mike nabbed Tiffani, Jamie (really) and the lovable Carla.

The restaurants took shape as each chef named and created the theme. Richard dubbed his joint as “Tongue and Cheek” which encompasses his typical play on food puns and cooking whimsy. Michael indulged in some narcissism and shortened his last name to create “Iz.”

With the cards on the table, Spike proved to be a big asset. This is where I have to admit that during his season, I couldn’t stand Spike. Fighting for Richard was redeeming and I appreciate him far more than I ever thought possible. He was smart enough to listen to the judges’ comments and report back to Richard that his foie gras ice cream needed work. And here kids is why Blais deserves to win…he listened to the critiques and instead of making excuses (ahem..Mike) and being overly arrogant (ahem…Mike), Richard changed the dish to make it successful.

Both men had positives and negatives when it came to judges’ table. Family, sans Blais’ baby-due-any-second wife, were there for each contestant. It seemed like it could be a draw, but Richard Blais was named winner of Top Chef All Stars.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I despised everything about Isabella even though I wanted to like him or at least feel he had the undeniable talent despite the unlikeable personality. He didn’t help his cause as he was a giant sore loser. He practically stomped off into a corner and threw tantrum. He couldn’t be bothered to offer genuine congratulations to Richard (at least we didn’t see any –perhaps editing could be to blame) and even complained that he beat Richard, but didn’t win the popularity contest.

Being that Richard helped get him to the finale (remember Mike STEALING his dish idea and remember when Angelo did his grunt work at the Target challenge), he should have been more grateful for making it to the final two. Perhaps he needs to realize that being a Top Chef is more than just being able to cook a great dish. It’s about being willing to take credit for your mistakes and evolve without having to resort to stealing.

I digress. Out cooked or not, Richard is finally Top Chef. I really hope he takes this a confidence booster and stops beating himself up so much!