And so we bade a bittersweet farewell to Top Chef: Just Desserts last night. Well, maybe it was more of a sweet farewell because I think most of us (who still watch) aren’t all that upset about it being over.

Hey, guess what?! There were no inane challenges or crazy twists in the episode! And you know what else? Because of that fact, it wasn’t half bad to watch. If the show gets picked up for another season, I sincerely hope that Bravo takes the casting and challenges more seriously. We want to see talent, not breakdowns and cat fights on every episode (just on some of them). Anyway, on to the show.

The three remaining chefs, Danielle, Morgan and Yigit, are told they mist create a four-course dessert tasting challenge for the judges and some heavy-hitters in the pastry world. They’re then told by Johnny that there’s a twist (but wait, it’s good): their sous chefs for the first day of prep are none other than pastry rock stars Elizabeth Falkner, Sherry Yard (both previous judges) and Claudia Fleming. Morgan gets Claudia as his assistant and with his curtness and show-off attitude, they don’t seem to mesh too well. Yigit gets Sharry and I envied him — I think she seems so sweet and like a fun aunt, I’d just love to go shopping with her (and Yigit for that matter). Meanwhile, Danielle got to work with Liz Falkner and proceeds to make her shell pistachios. Hey, somebody’s gotta do it, right?

This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.