'Top Chef' Love will survive

A couple of weeks ago we thought that Sara and Dale would end up on the chopping block together (though we thought it would be last week, not this week), but we didn’t think it would be quite such a nail biter.

In the end, it came down to execution issues (Sara) vs. conceptual issues (Dale). And somehow, miraculously, Dale edged our favorite cheesemaker out.

It might have had something to do with this speech, possibly most eloquent rumination on the meaning of food and life that “Top Chef” ever has seen: “Cooking is love. You can taste it when a chef has not had their heart broken. And you definitely know who got laid last night. That’s how I cook. I’m the first one to notice my faults, because I don’t want to give them to you.”

This, from the man who gave us this classic Dale-ism earlier in the evening: “I’m a big gay chef, and I’m gonna outcook your ass.”

Of course, that’s precisely why we’ve come to love Dale. He has confidence and he has heart—and he knows when to let them shine and when to play it cool. Unfortunately, he also has a bit of forgetfulness problem, as evidenced by recent portioning and saucing snafus. Is it enough to keep him out of the final two? Or will he slide through?

As we head into next week’s finale, let’s revisit our predictions from a couple of weeks back and see how we’re doing.

Hung: We had him in sixth. He’s still around. So where did we go wrong? He slipped by last week, and we simply didn’t see this week’s challenge coming. It was tailor-made for Hung, a CIA grad who most recently logged time in the kitchen at Guy Savoy in Las Vegas. If he’d blown it we would have been shocked. And now that he’s made it this far, he’s gaining momentum. We’re pretty sure he’ll make it to the final two.

Dale: We had him in fourth or fifth. He’s still around, but we think he’ll go next week. We love him, but he’s had too many mental errors, from forgetting an entire entree last week to forgetting to sauce his chicken this week.

Sara: We were more or less right on this one. Anyway, she’s presumably off to Jamaica to open her own cheese dairy now, so we’re not terribly worried about her.

Brian: We had Brian making it to the final four, but not the top two. We’re standing by this one. He’s been moving ahead simply by not being the worst, and that strategy becomes less and less effective as the number of competitors dwindles.

CJ: Whoops. We had him in the top two, and he finished sixth. We’re still surprised he got booted last week. But at least his exit cleared the way for Hung, who will, if nothing else, will make the finale interesting.

Casey: We had Casey finishing first. We’re standing by this one. Here’s why: After this week’s show, we think she’ll be going up against Hung in the finale. And whether he realized it or not, Dale’s already predicted the outcome of a Casey-Hung matchup: “In my world, the best food has heart. And when you don’t have one, it doesn’t taste good.”