My clue revolved around the comments Tom made at the end.
I wanted those desserts but I don’t think Wellington would be my thing!
Does anyone watch on the Bravo App and have the episode skip ahead like a record? Seems to often do it towards the end - the episode seems to jump ahead a few seconds
I don’t know if Gabi had every made a Wellington. Buddha seems to have made many. At least the edit showed that while Buddha may have taken the lead, they were supportive of each other and in return, the main star the Wellingtons AND the sauces etc. stood out.
I think this group (pretty much the entire cast for this season) has amazing respect for each other.
Gabi’s story about taking care of his mother was very sweet. <3
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I think the other chefs realize that letting Buddha take the lead is in their best interest. This challenge and restaurant war are case in point.
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It’s interesting. My daughter and BF are watching this season but did not watch Buddha’s season. They don’t seem to find him as likeable as those of us who did watch his season (and got the more touchy-feely edit with the story of his father) and find him a little condescending.
He can be a bit formal but can also be playful. I guess he has the chops (hmmm…Top Chef pun? 
) to be confident (as they all do) and it seems to me that the other chefs also see him as a threat. If this was Survivor he would have surely been voted off by now, lol!!!
I hope I’m not jinxing him - while I’d love to see him win there are a couple others I’d also be thrilled to see win. I’m glad a bad plate of rice didn’t bring him down!
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Buddha is, IMO, hands down the best chef. Anyone, however, can have an off day and get eliminated. I hope he manages risk accordingly to secure the win.
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Yes a threat as a competitor but the best ally if you are on his team.
I think the other chefs realize his talent. They don’t seem to mess with him or question him when they are teammates.
Definitely not warm and fuzzy but imo brilliant as far as his craft.
Tom isn’t warm and fuzzy either. Some of this is cultural, I think. For Tom and for Buddha.
Gabi has to be the next to go, right? I think he’s a good chef but not quite in the league of the others who are left.
My guess is Ali and Buddha as the top 2.
Agree with all this! I would be happy to see either as winner. I love Ali as well. His food and himself.
Sara has Ali guesting at an event in her restaurant in a few weeks. She previewed it without revealing “who” the night I ate there in early May. Evidently it was a quick sell-out. I understood her to say she is going to be doing more events like that.
I normally don’t watch Top Chef, but watched the Kentucky series to follow Sara and am now watching this series. I really like most of the chefs, particularly those remaining. Seems like many think Tom & Buddha are the favorites - Buddha would be my personal choice to win between those two.
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I think Budha is really good, but it would be such an expected win so kind of anti-climatic finale. LOL
Garbri (with an “r”, yes?) seems like such a kind guy. But I think he definitely benefitted by being on Budha’s team, who appeared to be in charge of that challenge. I would say partly because of his Wellington experience, but he probably would have been in charge no matter what 
I feel like Top Chef - and the competitors - continue to be a class act.
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Interesting last night. Budha continues to amaze and it certainly seems like it is his to lose.
Was happy about the LCK winner, although the other chef was great as well.
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Also happy to see Sara come back. She is so nice and supportive! In fact, all the finalists seem really fond of each other. It’s a pleasant change. I agree it’s Buddha’s to lose. He is so thoroughly researched and prepared - and talented.
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How will the Paris competition work? The only other season I have watched was the Kentucky season when it came down to Kelsey & Sara. I don’t remember how the competition whittled things down to just those two and we have four left now.
I agree that Buddha is the favorite. I thought his trope l’oeil dish was so creative.
Some finales have had two episodes. First one knocks them down to three. Second episode has two parts - all three compete in Part 1 and are prepped to do Part 2, but one gets knocked out and it’s head to head for the win. But they’ve done some things differently for this season so who knows. Wikipedia does show two more episodes.
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Everything about that episode seemed to be designed to give Buddha an edge. I really liked him in his first season but for some reason there is something about him that I find vaguely annoying this season.
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I think his first season we got the slant of his story with his dad which was so heart warming. This season he’s simply a competitor - and even if he doesn’t win at the end, he has been the front runner nearly all season.
I think they are all likable- but that’s not what wins you the season! He hasn’t flaunted his wins to the competitors that I can see.
Tom was such a pleasure to watch. I’ll miss him.
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I’ll miss Tom too.
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This season feels more about the cooking and less about the stories.
We know some about the competitors but not as much as we have some seasons.
Sarah has the most personality of the people left, glad she came back.
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Without a doubt Buddha has mad skills - his creativity is just amazing. And as I mentioned above this last episode seemed tailor made to show off his skills. He’s much to calculating - rustic seems to throw him for a loop. Maybe it was the editing, but I thought his treatment of Gabri in the Wellington episode was somewhat dismissive. He’s still a great chef.
I totally agree it’s not likability that wins the season. There have been many winning chefs who were very unlikable. There is some luck to this show, a chef can be in the middle of the pack the whole season but knock it out of the pack on the last episode before the finale and get selected while a chef could have won many challenges but have one blip and gets eliminated (looking at you Amar).
Tom was definitely nice to watch but his food never seemed to quite hit the mark. There were several times I thought he was surely going to be eliminated but wasn’t.
Ali is also nice to watch but definitely a better chef than Tom in my opinion.
It will be a very interesting finale. I’m looking forward to it.
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Maybe Gabri was inspired by this chef?
I liked Tom’s humor. Sometimes he was off putting, but other times, I enjoyed his sarcasm.
If I had to do this challenge, I would be stumped.
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