Greg Gayne / FOXWelcome to Thunder-kitchen!
MasterChef's season four finale pitted two highly-skilled and competitive chefs against each other to battle it out for $250,000, a cookbook and the title of the best home cook in America. Luca Manfe, 31, an Italian restaurant manager, and Natasha Crnjac, a 26-year-old stay at home mom from San Diego, cooked a three-course meal for the Fox reality hit's judges Gordon Ramsay, Graham Elliot and Joe Bastianich.
Three courses, two finalists, but only one winner emerged by finale's end. So who took home the season four trophy: Luca or Natasha?
Meet your winner: Luca, who is the American version of MasterChef's first male winner! But it wasn't an easy win as Ramsay even asked his fellow judges, "For the first time, should we make it a draw?" But Elliot admitted "had the slightest of edges," thanks to his perfectly cooked short ribs in the entrée round. "I came here from another country because America is the best place in the world," Luca said, "and now I am America's MasterChef. This is so special."
We chatted with Luca at Fox's Fall Premiere party earlier this week, where he told us what fans could expect from his cookbook. "Being Italian I see that there are a few Italian chefs out there, but no one hundred percent authentic like me who just came off the boat," he shared. "So for me, it was like trying to bring the traditional and classic dishes that I grew up eating and bring it to the American public because most of them they are a little bit unknown."
And Elliot told us he was happy with the outcome of season four. "The best Chef does win. I don't think we've ever walked away and gone, ‘Man I think so-and-so should've got it.' This is one where I think everyone at home is going to see it and go, ‘Yes, this is right.'" But he had high praise for both competitors, calling Natasha "formidable" and highlighted Luca's "passion and and heart and soul."
Do you think Luca should have won? Sound off in the comments!