Author: Seth Abramovitch

Bravo

Kristen Kish, left, and Brooke Williamson

After a rocky and unpredictable season that took us from the overcast shores of the Pacific Northwest to the chilly woods of Alaska, Top Chef Seattle has named its winner.

Kristen Kish, 28, made a miracle comeback after being sent home in one of the most controversial calls in Top Chef history, and ultimately stole the title from competitor Brooke Williamson, 34.

After being revealed as the winner of web-only series Last Chance Kitchen, Boston-based Kish emerged to face off against Williamson in a new finale setting, staged before a live audience that included every previous Top Chef winner. In a four-course showdown, judges ultimately sided with Kish’s menu. The finale was shot Feb. 22 in Los Angeles.

Kish began with a chicken liver mousse with frisee, mustard, prune, hazelnuts and pumpernickel; citrus and lavender cured scallop with bitter orange, Meyer lemon and apple; bone marrow with celery root puree, mushrooms, bitter greens and radishes; and red snapper with leeks, Little Gem lettuce, tarragon, uni and shellfish nage.

The Hollywood Reporter will have interviews with the winning chef and runner-up tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Getty Images; ABC

Jimmy Kimmel was left without a musical guest on Tuesday after militant vegan Morrissey pulled out of a Jimmy Kimmel Live! appearance in protest of that evening’s other guest: the stars of A&E’s Duck Dynasty, whose duck hunting products led the singer to liken them to “animal serial killers.” But Kimmel, pro that he is, wasn’t one to overlook a prime comedy opportunity.

The talk show host first said that Denver band Churchill was brought in at the last minute, then explained why Morrissey canceled the appearance. 

“While I respect his stance on this, I really do, there’s a very good reason why I didn’t dump the Duck Dynasty guys for Morrissey,” Kimmel said. “And that’s because they have guns.”

“He keeps finding new ways to depress us,” the comedian added, poking fun at the singer’s famously morose image.

Kimmel then introduced a pre-taped sketch in which the Duck Dynasty boys demonstrated a new line of vegan-friendly products.

Morrissey was not amused by what he saw on Kimmel’s show. The singer released this strongly worded statement on Wednesday:

“I was disappointed with last night’s Jimmy Kimmel Show wherein our smiling host managed to ridicule depression (70% of Americans suffer from depression according to the National Institute of Mental Health). He then found time to ridicule healthy eating (the obesity epidemic in the U.S. costs $147 billion per year in medical expenditure), and he also ridiculed the notion that animals should be entitled to the possession of their own lives. Furthermore, he found time to jokingly promote gun-ownership — hugely amusing for the parents at Sandy Hook, no doubt. He also promoted his special guests Duck Dynasty – who kill beings for fun. None of the above issues are, of course, as important as Jimmy Kimmel himself, who has finally revealed his show to have an overwhelming loss of meaning. Tune in and relive the intellectual fog of the 1950s.”

While it’s not entirely clear if Morrissey’s sold-out show at Staples Center on Friday, March 1, will be entirely meat-free — as a press release from the singer has pledged — the venue has promised at the very least an expanded menu featuring multiple vegan options, and that no McDonald’s counters will be operating that night.

He’ll follow that date with a very intimate show at Hollywood High School on Saturday, March 2.

David Moir/Bravo

Throughout Top Chef Seattle, no one made a more endearing impression than Sheldon Simeon, a Hawaiian Care Bear who spoke in a soothing Pidgin English and cooked beautiful and complex food with heavy Asian influences. In last night’s episode, Sheldon and Brooke Williamson were reunited with Kristen Kish, winner of companion web series Last Chance Kitchen. After watching the season along with the rest of us, Simeon decided that his cooking lacked range, and so he went out of his comfort zone for the challenge, taped last week at the L.A. outpost of Tom Colicchio‘s Craft. His very un-Sheldony spot prawns, quail and white chocolate mousse dessert failed to dazzle the judges, and Simeon was denied entry to the finale.

He’s taking it in stride, however, as The Hollywood Reporter learned in a short conversation on Thursday.

The Hollywood Reporter: Where are you right now?

Simeon: I am sitting at my auntie’s house in Waipahu on the island of Oahu.

THR: I’m bummed you didn’t make it to the final two!

Simeon: I didn’t? I watched a different show, I guess. I have no regrets of what happened throughout the season. I got to experience so much amazing things. Last night was great. It’s been a hell of a run.

THR: Do you think it was because you left your cooking comfort zone?

Simeon: I had some time off from Alaska until the finale, and I watched the season and thought, “I’m the guy from Hawaii who cooked Asian food.” I wanted to showcase that I could grow, that I wasn’t just that one chef, that I’m so much more than just island food. I just overthought it last night. But I have no regrets. At that moment, that’s what my heart felt and that’s what I put on the plate. 

THR: Your food looked great. Where can I eat it?

Simeon: For the moment you can come down to any one of our restaurants. It’s Star Noodle in Lahaina, Maui. You can always try it out at Leoda’s Kitchen and Pie Shop, also in Maui. And the Old Lahaina Luau. Come check us out. Maui’s not a bad place to be. 

THR: You brought Maui to the show. I don’t think I ever saw you lose your temper or even get stressed. What’s your secret?

Simeon: The first part of last night’s show, where I got to showcase Maui, me being down by the beach with my family and friends, that’s really who I am as a person. Me going on this television show being a chef, that really comes second to who I am and what Hawaii is all about. 

THR: Do you have any ambitions to host your own show in the future?

Simeon: (Laughs.) It was definitely a learning experience. I was a hot mess in front of the cameras at the beginning of the season, but now it’s become kind of normal. So if there’s opportunities to showcase something, it definitely won’t be serious, I’ll tell you that. But if there was an opportunity to do a television show where I can showcase myself and having a ton of fun, maybe. 

THR: Finally, if you could eat one meal in the U.S., where would it be?

Simeon: It would have to be at Alinea. That’s [progressive chef] Grant Achatz’s spot in Chicago. It’s so far from what I do. I’d love to eat there.