Top Chef Finale a Brotherly, Motherly Affair

Kevin and the Voltaggio brothers cook it out one last time for all the marbles (and of course there's a twist)

By Natalie Finn Dec 10, 2009 6:15 AMTags

The twist: Make a dish that not only their mothers would love, but that Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi would swoon over, as well.

After getting surprise visits from mamas Voltaggio and Gillespie on tonight's Top Chef finale, Michael, Bryan and Kevin were ordered to add a fourth dish inspired by something mom used to make to the standard three-course, best-meal-of-their-lives menu (including dessert!) they had already been asked to prepare.

While BryVolt went with a play on tuna-noodle casserole and Kevin fried up some "chicken & fixings," Michael went his usual "what?" route, turning in "dehydated cream of broccoli," a quirky take on one of the many foods the grown-up epicure used to hate as a kid.

So whose food was tops overall?

Despite the fact that he "cooked the crap out of" his chocolate and caramel coulant, Michael Voltaggio was named the winner of the sixth season of Top Chef.

And even though his only half-joking reason for wanting to win was "I just don't want Bryan to be Top Chef," the first thing Michael did was turn to his big brother for a big bear hug.

Bravo/Trae Patton

"Good job, man," said the more reserved yet obviously proud Voltaggio brother.

"I'm disappointed a little bit in myself," Bryan, who at least has a Michelin star to go home to, said afterward. "Coming in second place is tough, but I'm proud to see my little brother win against me—rather him than anybody else."

In fact, just so they could see the brothers squirm side by side, the judges dismissed Kevin—who had a rare misfire with his overdone pork belly—from consideration first rather than give all three of them the news at once.

"Kevin...[pause]...you are not Top Chef," Padma informed him.

But finally, after he was declared the winner, Michael revealed that soft, squishy fraternal heart of his.

"I'm more proud of the fact that Bryan and I made it all the way to the end than I am about winning the entire competition," he admitted. "I wish both of us could win."