Sternbergh: So, as a loyal adherent to the show–slash–foodie, what did you think?
Ozersky: I saw this coming a mile away. These shows are relentlessly moralistic. They had set up Marcel as the heartless whiz, and Ilan as the beatific love bear. But I thought he was a smarmy creep, and not half the cook Marcel was.
Sternbergh: Marcel had a Lex Luthor–esque regard for his own intellect.
Sternbergh: Which, like Lex Luthor, was not entirely unearned.
Ozersky: Either Lex Luthor or Mr. Mxyzptlk.
Sternbergh: Looks like Food & Wine's Ilan-is-the-winner spoiler was true too.
Sternbergh: I think their whole "No, we did two profiles" was just to cover their asses.
Ozersky: That was brilliant. Like serving the fish garnish and saying, "Look at this wonderful salad I made!"
Sternbergh: As a foodie, can you give me a sense of where these contestants fit in the larger firmament of chefs?
Sternbergh: Like, could one of them actually run a restaurant?
Ozersky: Neither of the final two can. Both those guys were basically cartoon characters: The passionate soulster and the mad, Faustian intellectual. Sam was the kind of guy that can run a crew. He's forceful but noncommittal, in a passive-aggressive way. No professional kitchen could handle these two shmegegges. Unless Ilan can find a kitchen staffed entirely by adoring female sous-chefs.
Ozersky: But the actual prize was unworthy of The Price Is Right.
Ozersky: "A BRAND NEW OVEN!"
Sternbergh: I will say I found it interesting to get a glimpse at how different chefs have different "philosophies."
Sternbergh: It's like when I heard Kasparov speak at the New Yorker festival, and he explained that grandmasters of yore couldn't compete today because chess has changed so much.
Sternbergh: And I thought, Really? Did they add a new piece?
Sternbergh: Dumb-dumbs like me don't know that you can be that backward in cooking technique.
Ozersky: Well, you can't, if the method is Ilan's conventional technique. That's as old as the hills, which is why it works so reliably and guys like him are schooled in it. But Adrià was inventing stuff that no one has ever done — the equivalent of adding another piece, or even two, to chess.

Earlier:
'Top Chef' Winner Revealed — For Real! [Grub Street]
‘Top Chef’ Wannabes, Now Is Your Chance — to Get Baked With Padma Lakshmi [Grub Street]
Sam Talbot (Formerly) of ‘Top Chef’ Splurges at Nobu [Grub Street]
Red Cat Owner Betting on Ilan to Win ‘Top Chef’ [Grub Street]
So Hot She’s Flammable: Host roasted by top chefs. [NYM]
‘Top Chef’'s Marcel Doesn't Love Joël Robuchon That Much [Daily Intel]