***SPOILERS***

First, I have to say that while I understand why Tiffani is so hated, I think she got a really bad rap from her fellow competitors and the audience. She is not the warmest person to work for or with, but I was bothered by the lack of respect the loser competitors displayed towards her. She made it to the finals for a reason and it wasn’t her personality. I had a knot in my stomach when I saw how utterly rude Dave and Stephen were towards and about her. But I’ll get to more specifics on them below.

Second, I was glad Harold won. Not because I didn’t think Tiffani deserved it; for me it did end up coming down to how the winner was as an overall chef. Harold’s warmer personality edged out Tiffani’s technically better skills. Personally, I could work for/with both, but I think I’d have a better time with Harold.

Now, to evaluate the sous chefs:

1. Leann - she’s a class act. She never put forth her beefs with Tiffani, but quietly chose Harold as the one she wanted to work with. I liked that at the end, when the judges asked for the sous’ opinions, she gave Tiffani props for her skills. I appreciate that she respects Tiffani as the excellent cook that she is regardless of her lack of interpersonal skills in the workplace.

2. Miguel - he didn’t say much. I was actually worried that he would be rude about Tiffani, too, given their history. He kept his commentary to himself and did his job with Harold.

3. Dave - sadly, my esteem for him diminished as the season progressed. His drama queen business annoyed me. I wanted to shout, “It’s not all about you! Get over yourself!” so many times. For a 40 year old man he is super immature. His attitude with Tiffani in the final flip flopped - he was incredibly gracious to offer his desserts for her menu and she was wrong to lie that they were her idea when the judges asked about them; the rest of the time he was clearly resentful.

4. Stephen - got sucked into Dave’s negativity towards Tiffani, which was a shame. I think if he hadn’t been influenced by that, his opinion of Tiffani might not have been so negative because I don’t remember him having much of a beef with her before. I also wonder that he didn’t try to steer her away from the difficult artichoke-wine pairing; was it his subtle form of sabotage?

I thought all of the dishes looked delicious. I’m most intrigued by the artichoke risotto that Tiffani did. Sounds really yummy.

I was most saddened that the judges told Tiffani what Dave and Stephen said about her after she had just expressed her delight and appreciation for them. Who knows if she was being sincere or not. I don’t care - I didn’t think the hurtful comments on top of her loss of the competition were necessary. How demoralizing.

I’m looking forward to next season - this is a good show.