Top Chef‘s Phillip Frankland Lee’s arrogance finally gets the best of him

Top Chef‘s Restaurant Wars concluded with a much anticipated elimination. 

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If you think you might have heard a sound resembling a whoop of joy around 10 p.m. EST on Thursday, you probably did. That noise was the result of Top Chef fans getting what they’ve so desperately been wanting since the beginning of Season 13 — Phillip being eliminated.

Between his inability to take criticism, to his insistence on steamrolling everyone who doesn’t agree with him, including the judges, Phillip was a handful. On the second half of Restaurant Wars, when Phillip was working the front of the house, he was positively insufferable, even for him. There was what shall be known from now on as the Strawberry Salad Incident. Kwame asked Phillip if he wanted his creation (a strawberry salad) to be seasoned, and Phillip declined, saying it was ready to go as is. The judges disagreed; Gail said the salad actually made her angry because it made no sense and was such a non-thing.

Tom Colicchio, watching Phillip saunter about the room, predicted that he was talking about himself, and he was right. Phillip discussed not only his tattoos but also his two restaurants. That’s right — not the restaurant he was currently working in, but the ones he owns.

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When the moment of truth came crashing down, Phillip was predictably outraged and out of touch about it. It was pretty clear that the judges eliminated him not just for his crappy dish, but because of his attitude toward them and the other cheftestants.

Fans have been rooting for Phillip to pack his knives for so long now that every week that went by that he wasn’t eliminated, they were starting to fear he might be in this until the end. So there was no shortage of relief when he was finally ousted.

We’re down to seven chefs now, and next week the show heads to the Bay Area for more food shenanigans. Of course, because this is a reality show, there’s bound to be someone else who gets on fans’, judges’ and cheftestants’ nerves, although, honestly, they can’t be as bad as Phillip. Or can they? Maybe I’m speaking too soon.

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Are you happy Phillip is finally gone? Will someone else rise up to take his place as the most disliked cheftestant? What did you think of the second half of Restaurant Wars?