‘Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen’ review: Kristen Kish vs. Stefan Richter

“Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen” is doing a pretty great job at the moment in cultivating some pretty awesome showdowns. After all, last week we had Kristen Kish face off against the woman who stay in the competition over her in Josie; and now, she had to take on the man who jokingly called her his “wifey” for most of the season in Stefan Richter. We’ve made it no secret that we refer to the guy as entertainment gold; and even when he did not land at the top of the judges’ favorites, his constant defense of his own food made for great television.

Sadly, Stefan is now gone for good unless he find a way to topple CJ in the public vote and earn one last shot at the competition. In a challenge in front of Tom Colicchio that involved him being forced to cook a dish primarily highlighting animal organs, Kristen took him down and retained her chance to re-enter the competition.

Can Kristen be stopped before the finale? Anyone who faces her is going to have quite a challenge ahead of them. Tom clearly knows that her elimination was controversial to begin with, and still holds her cooking in high regard. While every member of the final four has succeeded at times in this competition, they have all had their moments of struggle. The biggest darkhorse at the moment is Josh “I love bacon” Valentine, who has started to get a serious Mike Isabella edit. Brooke is still the likely winner in our minds with Sheldon being the runner-up, but it’s hard to really ignore a man who has been in the top of five straight elimination challenges. (Ironically, Brooke has actually been in the top five times, whereas every other contestant left has been in six.)

Ultimately, our prediction is that Kristen faces off next against Lizzie, and finds a way to stay alive yet again.

Do you think Kristen is a lock to re-enter the competition, or will someone take her down? If you want to read our full review for Wednesday night’s episode, be sure to head on over to the link here.

Photo: Bravo