This article contains spoilers for Bravo’sTop Chef: World All-Stars.
After weeks of intense competition in London among 16 of the best winners and finalists in Top Chef franchise history, a winner has officially been crowned on Top Chef: World All-Stars.
Finalists Sara Bradley (Top Chef: Kentucky), Buddha Lo (Top Chef: Houston), and Gabriel “Gabri” Rodriguez(Top Chef: México) battled it out in Paris, France, by cooking for a slate of special guests and for judgesPadma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons.
The three remaining cheftestants were given free rein to cook what they wanted, so long as it was a “four-course progressive meal,” and one competitor’s meal outshone the rest.
The winner ofTop Chef Season 20 is… Buddha Lo.
Buddha made history by winning two consecutive seasons of Top Chefand by being the first person to win Top Chef: World All-Stars.
For his final cook of the season, Buddha teamed up with sous chef/fourth-place finisherAli Ghzawi. He made dishes inspired by the different parts of the world he represents.
Buddha made a clam velouté for his first course in honor of his living in the United States. He then cooked alobster curry as a nod to Malaysia, and he made a ngau lam for Hong Kong (where his late father was from). For his dessert, Buddha made his favorite Australian dessert, lamington.
TOP CHEF -- “Fin” Episode 2014 -- Pictured (l-r): Gabriel Rodriguez, Sara Bradley, Buddha Lo, Tom Goetter, Amar Santana, Ali Al Ghzawi
He reflected on his win in an interview on the finale.
“I just won Top Chef back-to-back. Oh, that feels unreal to say,” he said. “It’s the biggest moment of my life.”
The Australian chef opened up about the “sign” he received from his father to compete onTop Chef: World All-Stars.
“Recently, I had a dream about my dad, and he was smiling at me, and I woke up and I couldn’t stop crying at 3 o’clock in the morning,” Buddha explained. “And two days after that dream, I actually got the phone call to come to Season 20 of Top Chef. And I felt like this was a sign from him, saying, ‘The goal was to win Season 19 so you can go on to Season 20 to win that.’”
The New York City–based cheftestant then called his wife, Rebekah Pedler.
“I won,” he told his spouse. “You helped me through the journey throughout the whole way, the key to my success, so…”
“Oh, you wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me,” she joked in response. “One hundred percent.”
Before the season officially wrapped, judge Tom Colicchio shared a message for the finalists, crew members, and fans.
“This is just a milestone for us, our 20th season, and it’s all because of every single person here, who really just puts their blood, sweat, and tears into making this show,” Tom said. “But also, seriously, to the chefs who come out and just work their asses off to really make this happen. So thank you.”
You can catch up onTop Chefon Peaco*ck.
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