Welcome
back to my overly nerdy examination into the contestants of Top Chef. Today
we’re going to cover some of the weakest winners from the twelve seasons and
the weakest overall contestants.
First off let’s have a reminder of our scoring system:
·
4 points for winning the weekly elimination
challenge
·
2 points for winning the weekly quickfire
challenge
·
2 points for finishing in the top 3 for the
elimination challenge
·
-2 points for finishing in the bottom 3 for the
elimination challenge
·
-6 points for being eliminated
·
8 points for winning Top Chef
Ranking the Winners
|
Ranking
|
Contestant (Season
|
Elimination Wins
|
Quickfires
|
High Finishes
|
Low Finishes
|
Total Points
|
Win %
|
|
1
|
Paul (9)
|
8
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
42
|
0.37037
|
|
2
|
Richard (8)
|
4
|
4
|
4
|
1
|
38
|
0.266667
|
|
T-3
|
Stephanie (4)
|
4
|
2
|
6
|
3
|
34
|
0.230769
|
|
T-3
|
Michael (6)
|
3
|
2
|
6
|
1
|
34
|
0.185185
|
|
T-5
|
Kristen (10)
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
28
|
0.185185
|
|
T-5
|
Mei (12)
|
3
|
1
|
5
|
2
|
28
|
0.148148
|
|
7
|
Hung (3)
|
1
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
24
|
0.192308
|
|
T-8
|
Nicholas (11)
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
5
|
20
|
0.2
|
|
T-8
|
Harold (1)
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
2
|
20
|
0.166667
|
|
10
|
Ilan (2)
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
16
|
0.136364
|
|
11
|
Hosea (5)
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
14
|
0.11111
|
|
12
|
Kevin (7)
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
10
|
0.07407
|
·
The weakest winning chefs have been Kevin Sbraga
of Top Chef Washington D.C., Hosea
Rosenburg of Top Chef New York, and
Ilan Hall of Top Chef Los Angeles. Combined
the three chefs won a combined eight challenges. Equaling Richard Blais’s
performance during Top Chef All-Stars and
only two behind Paul Qui’s dominant run during Top Chef Texas. Their combined point total (40) failed to match
Qui’s total output (42).
·
Despite winning the title of Top Chef, both
Kevin (10 points) and Hosea (14 points) failed to finish first among the
contestants in their respective seasons according to the total points system.
Rosenburg finished second behind Stefan Richter.
|
Contestant (Season-Finish)
|
Elimination Wins
|
Quickfires
|
High Finishes
|
Low Finishes
|
Total Points
|
Win %
|
|
Stefan (5-3)
|
4
|
4
|
2
|
3
|
16
|
0.296296
|
|
Hosea
(5-1)
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
4
|
14
|
0.11111
|
·
Sbraga, meanwhile finished a remarkable third in
total points, behind both Ed Cotton and Tiffany Derry (remember this scoring
system includes a + 8 bonus for winning Top Chef and a -6 for failing to win). Derry
managed to capture first place, by never finishing in the bottom except the
episode in which she was eliminated.
|
Contestant (Season-Finish)
|
Elimination Wins
|
Quickfires
|
High Finishes
|
Low Finishes
|
Total Points
|
Win %
|
|
Tiffany (7-5)
|
2
|
2
|
5
|
0
|
16
|
0.148148
|
|
Ed (7-2)
|
3
|
3
|
3
|
2
|
14
|
0.222222
|
|
Kevin (7-1)
|
1
|
1
|
3
|
5
|
10
|
0.07407
|
Weakest Contestants
Now that
we’ve looked at the weakest winners, let’s take a gander at the weakest
contestants overall. According to the points system, the weakest contestants
are not necessarily the ones eliminated in the first few episodes. The points
system rewards (or punishes) the chefs who hang around the bottom, failing to
produce good dishes, but not being so bad as to be eliminated. So let’s get to
it.
|
Contestant (Season-Finish)
|
Elimination Wins
|
Quickfires
|
High Finishes
|
Low Finishes
|
Total Points
|
|
Jose (9-7)
|
0
|
1
|
0
|
6
|
-16
|
|
Lisa (4-2)
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
6
|
-12
|
|
Ash (6-9)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
-12
|
|
Stephen (7-9)
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
3
|
-12
|
·
Josie Smith-Malave appeared on Top Chef twice.
First as a contestant in Top Chef Los
Angeles (season 2), when she was eliminated in a team challenge in the
fifth episode. She scored -4 for that season, having finished in the top once.
·
Smith-Malave’s time on Top Chef Seattle (season nine) proved controversial as her
consistently poor performances left her on the verge of elimination a record
tying six times. In the season’s Restaurant Wars episode, the judges shockingly
sent eventually winner Kristen Kish home over Smith-Malave. As executive chef
of the restaurant, Kish accepted responsibility for Smith-Malave’s poor dish. Kish
won Last Chance Kitchen and reentered the competition before winning the
finale.
·
Similarly Lisa Fernandes of Top Chef Chicago carved out perhaps the most unlikely path to the
finale. In the season’s twelfth episode, head judge Tom Colicchio pointed out
to Fernandes that she and fellow contestant Spike Mendelsohn were frequent
visitors to the elimination block. Yet Fernandes continually eked by, her dishes
were always just good enough.
And that brings us to the end of
our examination of the contestants in the history of Top Chef. Perhaps I’ll
return to this data at a later point or not. But next time I’ll have thoughts
on the series finale of Justified.
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