Spoiler Alert: Here's the Winner of 'Top Chef' Season 20

Find out who took the title of this "World All Stars" season, featuring contestants from "Top Chef" series around the globe.

In the penultimate episode of Top Chef, the field had been whittled down to just four remaining contestants. But this was no ordinary season of Bravo's acclaimed culinary competition. Season 20 was dubbed "World All Stars," with 16 chefs — many of them winners — from previous seasons of the U.S. and international iterations of the series returning for another shot at the title.

Their first hurdle in Paris included talking Olympic and Paralympic athletes through cooking a dish, sight unseen. Then it was onto an Elimination round focusing on celebrating the humble champignon de Paris, or button mushroom. Ultimately it was Ali Ghzawi (winner of Top Chef Middle East & North Africa Season 3) who was told to pack his knives and go.

After Ali's elimination, we reach the season finale and meet our final three chefs: Gabriel Rodriguez (Top Chef Mexico Season 2 winner), Buddha Lo (Top Chef Season 19 winner), and Sara Bradley (Top Chef Season 16 finalist). Bradley was the only semifinalist chef to not win her respective prior season of Top Chef but did manage to pull out both a Last Chance Kitchen comeback just in time to head to Paris this season and then a win in the semifinal Elimination challenge in the previous episode.

For their final Elimination challenge the chefs get to cook whatever they want in the form of a four-course progressive meal to convey who they are. The chefs are also informed that they'll get to select an eliminated chef to provide some help — Amar Santana is chosen by Sara, Tom Goetter pairs with Gabriel, and Ali returns to team with Buddha — and they each get €2,000 to shop.

As the teams plan their menus in sight of the Eiffel Tower atop the roof of the Galeries Lafayette, we get a taste of what's to come: Gabriel says his menu will be totally Mexican in inspiration but include French ingredients. Buddha, who focused on representing his family in his Season 19 finale, says this menu will be more focused on representing himself. Sara says her menu will be a mix of Southern, Creole, French, and Jewish cuisines.

While shopping, Gabriel can’t find plantains and Sara can’t find sweetbreads, meaning changes to their intended menus. And Buddha can’t find lobster...until the last minute, avoiding the need to pivot any of his dishes. Then it's off to the nearly 250-year-old Pavillon Ledoyen to prep.

To cap off the first day of cooking, the trio of finalist chefs are treated by Tom, Padma, and Gail to dinner at Marsan par Hélène Darroze served by Chef Darroze herself. Then it's back to Ledoyen the next morning for the final push and finishing touches.

Related: Everywhere the 'Top Chef' Contestants Ate in Paris

After two days of cooking, the chefs presented their dishes to an intimidating-to-say-the-least table of guests including Food & Wine editor-in-chief Hunter Lewis; Hélène Darroze; Marcus Samuelsson, chef and owner of Hav + Mar and Red Rooster; Gwendal Poullennec, international director for the Michelin Guides; Daniela Soto-Innes, chef and owner of Rubra Mexico; Ángel León, chef and owner of Aponiente; May Chow, chef and owner of Little Bao; and Clare Smyth, chef patron of Core by Clare Smyth.

Here's what each chef served the judges:

Gabriel Rodriguez

• First course: esquites with huitlacoche purée and grasshopper tostada.

• Second course: sweet potato empanada with black bean purée.

• Third course: chiles en nogada.

• Fourth course: chocolate tamal, hazelnut ice cream, and chocolate pâte à bombe.

Sara Bradley

• First course: couvillion with shellfish and trinity.

• Second course: liver and onions with cookie butter and figs.

• Third course: burgoo with beans and cornbread.

• Fourth course: pea cake with pistachios and buttermilk sorbet.

Buddha Lo

• First course: rainbow trout with clam velouté.

• Second course: blue lobster with squash and curry bisque.

• Third course: ngau lam with lamb, roasted eggplant, and lamb croquette.

• Fourth course: coconut, raspberry, and chocolate lamington.

Judges' Table

Facing mixed reviews on an almost dish-by-dish basis, the chefs headed to the Judges’ Table for the final critiques. (No matter how things tasted, the moment is bittersweet as we know now that it represented Padma Lakshmi’s last time behind the table as judge and host!)

Gabriel Rodriguez
Tom remarks that the esquites and tostada course is "strong and earthy," while Gail notes it was the first time grasshoppers had been served in the finals. The consensus seemed to be that the second course wasn’t quite an empanada and was overpowered by the cheese sauce. The third course wasn’t spicy enough but a well balanced combination of flavors. The dessert tamale — with French cheese infused — worked, but Tom commented that, overall, the dish was one note, texturally speaking (i.e. all soft).

Sara Bradley
The tomato water in her take on Couvillion was aggressively spicy, something Sara had noted might need to be tempered for the French-leaning palates at the table. Perhaps her biggest issue, however, was the second course, in which the liver was unavoidably underdone and thus hard to eat. But in a 180-degree turn, the third course was praised for her technique with the burgoo and the perfect cook on the rabbit. Finally, Padma exclaimed that the pea cake was the best thing she ate that day.

Buddha Lo
Despite a gorgeous-looking first course, Lo's nod to New England clam chowder suffered from a lack of acidity. But his second course lobster dish was well-cooked and the curry was “luscious,” according to Padma. The lamb-centric third course was well-executed and well-balanced. Dessert was a sculptural presentation of lamington, an Australian dish harkening to the country where Buddha grew up, and was, once again, as beautiful to look at as it was to eat.

So which chef rose to the top amid the fierce competition of this all-star season?

Spoiler alert: and the Winner Is...

Chef Buddha Lo! Lo takes back-to-back wins after also bringing home the Top Chef title on Season 19 in Houston. He takes home $250,000 furnished by Saratoga Spring Water and will be featured in an upcoming event with Food & Wine.

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