After the clusterf*ck that was last season (Goddess Carla, stankface lezzie Jamie, and Team Euro were all ROBBED by that penis-with-ears), I hope this season shapes up as a return to form for everyone.

Also, I miss that cougar, Ariane. She's hotter than every.single.person this season. I hope one of the guys is at least half as cute as Patrick live on film (Bryan or Mattin, perhaps?).

Here's the cast list of 17 (double eliminations are imminent):

http://www.bravotv.com/whos-who-meet-the-chefs

Ash
Ashley
Bryan
Eli
Eve
Hector
Jennifer C.
Jennifer Z.
Jesse
Kevin
Laurine
Mattin
Michael I.
Michael V.
Preeti
Robin
Ron

Another female winner, pretty please?

Anyway, until then, let's discuss past seasons! LONG LIVE STEPHANIE.

I am kinda sad that there will be no more Ted Allen and too much Toby Young....

quote:

Originally posted by WithATentInMyPants:
I am kinda sad that there will be no more Ted Allen and too much Toby Young....

I thought he was okay and tolerable because they put him on the backburner with each episode. It seemed as the show went on he had fewer and fewer comments make it to air.

I don't care though - I am excited for the show and excited to get my weekly fix of Chef Tom...

Episode Title: "Sin City Vice"

Synopsis: It's viva Las Vegas when 17 fresh chefs infiltrate the gambling mecca to compete in culinary challenges in the Season 6 opener. Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Toby Young return in their series roles.

Discuss.

Go ASH!!!!

That was a great start to the season. The cast looks like it'll be a lively one. The bottom four seemed right, along with the winners. I was hoping that Hector and his accent would pull through, even though deep-frying a steak like that is heinous. Whatever it was that the tattooed lady made looked awful, so I'm not surprised that she was eliminated. It looked like it was between her and the blonde lady that said her vice was excess but her dish was anything but. I love it when they do the mise en place for the quickfire challenges. That does seem to bring out the best and worst in the relay teams. One thing that jumped out tonight was that Mike seemed like one of the most sexist players the show's had in a while, and there have been some glaring ones in the past. Time after time I had to do a double-take with him. It was quite ridiculous. But still, love that the show's back. I've been in "Top Chef" withdrawal for too long now.

I was really worried that Eve (the blonde) was going to be eliminated last night. Maybe her dish was bad, but her restaurant is a few blocks from my apartment and her food is DELICIOUS! Thank goodness I can root for her for at least one more week.

Go Eve!!

So far i think this years contestants are among the most compelling they've ever had. I love the two brothers Voltaggio (Mike and Brian) but i don't like the red head guy that won this weeks competition, he's an ass. I liked Robin the girl with cancer, and i liked a few others too. I'm glad to see Gail back full-time. I hope we get more Toby i liked him. Wolfgang puck was hilarious.

Why isn't Ted going to be on anymore?

I think Gail and Toby Young are going to be splitting time as the second (third?) judge.

Ted Allen said on his blog that Food Network wouldn't let him appear on "Top Chef" as a judge, given that he hosts two shows on their channel.

Agreed, this appears to be a truly talented group of chefs. I'm glad they didn't kick off the 17th cheftestant right away, like they did last season. That just felt cruel.

And I think there was a thread for "Top Chef: Masters," but I just want to say that series was just about perfect.

I liked host Kelly Choi, I liked the critics who, as on the flagship show, really know their stuff, and I liked the starred judging system.

The conviviality among all the chefs was a delight, too. It seems the five Emmy nominees for Reality/Competition are locked in for the duration (Amazing Race/AmIdol/DWTS/Runway/TC) but "Top Chef: Masters" deserves to be there next year.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Turtle,

quote:

Originally posted by Turtle:
I think Gail and Toby Young are going to be splitting time as the second (third?) judge.

Ted Allen said on his blog that Food Network wouldn't let him appear on "Top Chef" as a judge, given that he hosts two shows on their channel.

Agreed, this appears to be a truly talented group of chefs. I'm glad they didn't kick off the 17th cheftestant right away, like they did last season. That just felt cruel.

And I think there was a thread for "Top Chef: Masters," but I just want to say that series was just about perfect.

I liked host Kelly Choi, I liked the critics who, as on the flagship show, really know their stuff, and I liked the starred judging system.

The conviviality among all the chefs was a delight, too. It seems the five Emmy nominees for Reality/Competition are locked in for the duration (Amazing Race/AmIdol/DWTS/Runway/TC) but "Top Chef: Masters" deserves to be there next year.

I agree. It was better than 2 or 3 of the regular Top Chef seasons. Rick Bayless was a very deserving winner.

This group definetly seems more qualified than the Leahs and Josas of the world. so that's good news.

Seriously, I wasn't expecting to see the winner of Top Chef Masters in this thread, and now I've been spoiled. Hooray.

No biggie True Tenor (really, I'm not all that concerned), but just keep that in mind for those posters that might be a little behind and not in a general thread or a thread about the show.

That being said, i was so happy to see Top Chef return!

Welcome back to my TV, Padma.

I was not as thrilled with the new contestants, but I alwasy feel this way until I start to "get to know them".

What's with all the tats and piercings?

Love this show and the premiere was just as good as the others....Thank God that girl got kicked off because I wouldn't have been able to handle those ears all season long....

I know people can do whatever they want and one shouldn't judge but I just don't understand why somebody would do that....

Agreed - those ears were freaking me out!

OFF TOPIC: by the way Benito - Boooo to Miss Venezuela winning Miss Universe over our Miss Australia!

What is it with Venezuela and beauty pageants? You guys are the EXPERTS!

Back to Top Chef...

Episode Title; "Bachelor/Ette Party"

Synopsis: A battle of the sexes rages when the male cooks battle the lady chefs in a contest to cater a poolside bachelor-and-bachelorette party; Chef Todd English is the guest judge; a chef is eliminated from the competition.

Discuss.

Disappointed to see local chef Eve go, but she looked miserable the whole time and clearly wasn't doing well in this format. Given how amazing her restaurant is, it gives me a little perspective on how good these chefs are - even the ones who don't make it far.

The dueling brothers act is getting really old, really fast.

Eve seemed perpetually lost during this episode and last week's, so it was her time to exit. The brothers seem like they could be in this for the long haul, unless they eventually split them up for the drama. The elimination challenge was kind of a mess, but I liked the battle of the sexes element of it (too bad that Jennifer moaned and groaned about it). I could sympathize with Ashley's views on the challenge, but she had to have known that a Las Vegas show would include some kind of marriage theme at some point, so all she could really do was suck it up and do her job like a professional. She really shouldn't have attempted two dishes either. These chefs never learn the golden rule of "Top Chef" -- NEVER do a dessert if you don't have to or you're not skilled enough to pull it off reasonably well. The judges will burn you every single time for doing that. She shouldn't have used bay leaves in a panna cotta to begin with. Todd English was a great guest judge this week.

Just the idea of a bay leaf panna cotta is nasty. Why would anyone think that was a good idea?

"Top Chef": Were Ashley's gay-marriage comments annoying?
by Ken Tucker

I notice that a lot of the Comments on my colleague Archana Ram’s "Top Chef: Las Vegas" TV Watch are about Ashley’s irritation at having to compete in a challenge to cater meals for a straight couple about to get married. Most of the comments are anti-Ashley.

I’ll bet you anything that Ashley was following one of the rules of reality TV, if you’re a smart contestant, which is: If you want something to survive the editing process, say it over and over in as many provocative ways as you can. Ashley wanted to make a point about the unequal laws regarding gay marriage, so she articulated it in a variety of ways at various times.

But then there’s another rule of reality TV: If one of your contestants gives you a hot topic, you run with it. You edit as many of his or her comments into your show as you can, hoping . . . it will provoke the reaction that Ashley seems to have gotten from many EW readers. You know, either, “Yay, Ashley,” or “Why does she have to bring social issues into a cooking show?”

This runs the risk of boring your audience, of course. At a certain point last night, I was saying, “Yeah, I get it, I get it, Ashley!” But on some level, she can’t be blamed for the repetition. She was trying to be honest about her feelings, and Top Chef was trying to spice up an episode. (I mean, thank heaven Eve was sent packing: What a drab player. Half the time, I couldn’t even understand what she was mumbling.)

Did you watch last night? What did you think about Ashley?