Gabe has been my favorite since early in the season. I'm glad he won. I noticed he has a bachelors and masters degree in Mechanical Engineering from UT. Especially nice to see a longhorn win. If you know that Tom's opinion is the only one that matters, and if you know Tom's facial cues (he doesn't exactly have a great poker face), this one wasn't really a mystery. Gabe won comfortably. Odd choice for Shota to take it in a comfort food direction. He's at his best with subtlety and finesse. Dawn just flat out didn't belong.
I've been down on Maria as a top half worthy top chef contestant, but she was an awesome sous chef and - for obvious reasons - a particularly good match with Gabe. It did make me chuckle when she advocated against deep frying the head cheese only to have the judges end up saying it wasn't crispy enough. Still, she was clearly a strong net positive for Gabe, as Byron was for Shota. Dawn just doesn't work well giving direction and limited what Jamie could do. I remember reading a post upthread a few days ago that pretty much nailed the sous chef breakdown - prescient.
I was worried for Padma. She is getting older, and I thought she might throw out her back carrying Dawn all episode. It really felt like they were searching for ways to find nice things to say to maintain some sense of balance. Again, if you key in on Tom he was not impressed - probably wishing Sara had made it through.
Overall not the best season, but any Top Chef is always enjoyable for me. I'm already ready for the next season.