‘Top Chef: New Orleans’ review: Did Nicholas Elmi, Nina Compton advance to finale?

What's next? -The first part of the “Top Chef: New Orleans” finale starts next week in Maui, but the question on tonight’s new episode of the show was pretty darn simple: Who was going to make it there? Nina Compton, Nicholas Elmi, Shirley Chung, and Carlos Gaytan were all present at the start of the hour, but in the end, there could only be three who move forward without having to visit Tom Colicchio and his web series.

The end result of this episode (Carlos going home) should not be much of a surprise to anyone. This is a guy who cooked consistently great food, but he almost didn’t get at times the purpose of this competition: To show a variety of different skills beyond just your comfort zone. Also, he hasn’t come off well at times … but Nicholas has also shown that he can be quick-tempered, to put it lightly.

Hey, if nothing else, Carlos can say that he leaves with a victory in this final 4 quickfire. At least that is something. We’ve been hard on him, but we would definitely eat at his restaurant as a junkie for all things Mexican food.

If we were to disregard whoever ends up winning “Last Chance Kitchen” for a second here, we would have to say that we really do not think that much of the chances for Nicholas to end up winning here. This to us really seems all about the two ladies, who have dominated most of the season as a whole. For the two of them to find a way to lose at this point is going to take one heck of a massive catastrophe. No matter what, we’ll be watching and enjoying. Grade: B+.

Do you think that the right people advanced to the “Top Chef” finale? Share your thoughts below, and head over here if you want to read our full review of the “Last Chance Kitchen” finale. (Here’s a hint: It is a controversial one.)

Photo: Bravo

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