I feel like all I'm doing these days is posting about food shows, but I'm really excited about this show. Top Chef Masters premiers tonight on Bravo. Top Chef and Top Chef Masters are the only reality shows that I watch pretty religiously. I particularly enjoyed Top Chef Masters Season 1. You got to watch masters of their craft without all the housemate tension that you get with Top Chef. It didn't hurt that Wylie Dufrense, Hubert Keller, and Rick Bayless were some of the chefs throwing down. This season is looking pretty star-studded as well. A few like Dufrense, Mark Peel, Johnathan Waxman, Ludo Lefebvre, and Rick Moonen will be returning competitors. It also features Houston local Monica Pope. I'm excited about the Seattle chefs. Maria Hines owns Tilth, which is a pretty top-notch restaurant and won the 2009 James Beard Award for the Northwest. Thierry Rautureau also known as the Chef in the Hat is the long-time owner of Rover's, which is kind of a Seattle institution. Jerry Traunfeld was the long-time chef of The Herbfarm before he left a few years ago to open his new place, Poppy. I know a few of you (Master Baiter, Pole) have eaten at The Herbfarm, and he rightly has a stellar reputation for food. Traunfeld is on tonight's episode. A few other heavyweights like Marcus Samuelsson of the Red Rooster, Rick Tramonto of TRU, and Govind Armstrong are also competing. Should be a fun season.
I'm with you. I don't watch any other competition shows except for these two. Bayless (still puzzles me how his brother is Skip the tool) gave me a new appreciation for Mexican cuisine afterward. The Masters aren't exactly fighting for their culinary careers, so I feel the competitive spirit is probably strong but not as intense as the regular show where some are trying to make a name for themselves. At the same time the Masters are showing off their craft at the highest levels minus the drama, so it edges out the regular show for me. Also glad to see Dufresne come back for more.
My favorite cooking show is "Boys Weekend" (no homo). The guys are funny and the food is great. Very realistic to prepare.
yeah been looking fwd to this. speaking of which, Top Chef (normal) is filming right now here in DC. And apparently they're staying in the penthouse in my friend's building. Gotta figure out who they are..
Yeah, that's why I missed it in my TV listings. I usually only check for 7-9 shows. So stoked that this is back.
I really hated the format of the season premier. Don't pair them up. These are master chefs. Let them cook their own food. It really didn't seem like a showcase for these chefs to display their craft to its fullest. The two that went on were not bad, but I felt that Jerry Traunfeld had the best dish of the main round. It's a shame he's not moving on because his partner's dish wasn't up to snuff.
agree and agree. If all the outside rounds aren't done in the same pairing manner, it was unfair to this first group. I was a little annoyed that they seemed to hold back on criticizing what they felt needed to be criticized because of the stature of these chefs. They only complimented (at least in what was aired) and then criticized when the chefs were gone. A little boring..
