I’m gonna have to go with Ilan Hall, no contest, on this one. Sure, both he and Hosea have equally questionable cooking skillz, but Hosea’s just your run-of-the-mill jerk, and not someone who actively, gleefully participated in the persecution/character assassination of a fellow contestant.
What say the rest of you?
I never understood the Hosea hate, other than he and Leah were a bit annoying. I’ve been to the restaurant he cooks for many times - the last time about a year before he was on Top Chef - and it’s excellent. So I vote Ilan. That whole season he was on was filled with annoying people IMO.
It was more than that–it was Assault, plain and simple. I don’t care how much of a douche Marcel was, Ilan was complicit in actions that bordered on the criminal. He should’ve been thrown off the show for that reason alone (Tom C agrees with this stance, btw, but was overruled by the producers). But of those left standing, Ilan didn’t appear to be even as good as most of his competitors (especially Sam), but he sure had the mouth. As it turns out, when it mattered, he pulled out a meal that counted, but he was an insufferable git for the entire season. I don’t even remember Hosea doing anything special, good or bad, so I have no complaints about his win other than he was probably as lucky as he was good.
I voted for Ilan, though I’ve also never been a big fan of Harold from season one.
Favorite winner is Stephanie Izard. I’ve been to one of her Wandering Goat dinners (at Art Smith’s home!) and her food is absolutely amazing.
I agree with everyone else. Hosea was, at worst, kind of douchey, but Ilan seemed to be pure evil. And he didn’t even seem to be that great of a chef. (Every challenge: Paella!) That whole season was filled with really unpleasant people (Ilan, Betty, Marcel). I try to forget it ever happened.
All of Ilan’s subsequent appearances on the show feature him wearing ginormous glasses and having the flat affect of a serial killer. Maybe he’s now cooking people. Paella-style, obviously.
The range displayed by Ilan as a chef was astonishingly limited – every dish was basically a rehash of something on the menu at the restaurant for which he was a sous-chef. It’s also a hell of a lot easier to make great-tasting food when you put saffron in everything.
So yeah, even if he wasn’t an unmitigated douchebag, Ilan would be my pick for worst.
They were both assholes, but Ilan was a sadistic bully, and a sneaky one at that. Hosea was a resentful, mealy-mouthed twat, but not a bully. Ilan was definitely worse, but Hosea was still a douchebag.
I voted for Ilan, too. Hosea was, for me, just annoying, but Ilan pushed all of my buttons.
It takes a pretty big asshole to make me root for a self-important little douchebag like Marcel, but Ilan managed to accomplish that.
I don’t usually do this sort of blatant promotion of my own topics, but now that i have your attention, i’d be interested to hear Top Chef fans’ opinions in my thread, Just about ready to give up on Top Chef.
I had more issues with Hosea. He cheated on his gf by making out wih Leah. He coasted through with safe, mediocre food. He only won because Richard Blais helped him. Richard posted a blog afterward explaining he practically took over Hosea’s menu. he wanted to make up for his own loss the season before.
Ilan was a douchebag. But he seemed like a slightly better cook than Hosea. Honestly I wouldn’t eat at either of their restaurants. 
I’m going with Hosea, but it’s really close. His food seemed really uninspired - he won more through other people losing than through his own skills (at least as we were able to see in what the producers and editors chose to air).
I think the focus on creating interpersonal drama and the amount of camera time given to it is really unfortunate. I know, it’s a reality show, that’s the point. But it’s a cooking reality show, and they don’t spend much time on the cooking.