Top Chef Season 6

I know we have some avid Top Chef fans on this board, and I'm wondering what everyone thinks of the season opener.

Honestly, I'm much more intrigued by this season than the last. The cast is full of chefs connected to some of the true greats working today-- Jennifer, for example, is the Chef de Cuisine of 10 Arts, and was personally selected by Eric Ripert for the job. Michael Isabella is the Executive Chef at Jose Andres' Zaytinya. And so on. We've also got a reasonable number of James Beard nominees on the show (And one winner? I can't remember), which is something I'm not aware has happened in previous seasons (though I could be wrong, so feel free to correct me). Maybe it's just perception but I feel like S6 has a much deeper talent pool than previous seasons.

This go-round there are going to be more curve balls and twists and turns, it seems, as Robin won immunity and freedom from having to compete in the Quickfire while Jennifer's clam ceviche wound up being worth 15 grand. This is all a gimmick, of course, that is informed by the setting, but it'll still make things interesting.

I also think that the talent is a little more clear-cut. I have a strong suspicion that there won't be a Carla this season coming out of nowhere and making it to the top 3 when no one expected it (though if I had to guess who might perform that same feat this season, I'd pick Jesse or Robin); Kevin, Ron, Jennifer, and the Voltaggio brothers seem to be the frontrunners, as well as Michael I., though he feels like he's going to be the chef everyone hates this season. We didn't even get through the first Quickfire before he managed to demonstrate that he's a jerk-off. Doesn't bode well for him.

So! Thoughts? Or has everyone else turned away from Top Chef after last season?

Masters had a great finish. The top 6 made me very happy, to the point that any 3 of them could have made it to the finals and I would have liked whoever won.

I was of course rooting for Hubert the whole way through. He's just about my favorite chef out there today (and he DJs!). He only just missed it, which is a shame, but the win went to an equally deserving man in Rick Bayless, who might be just about the nicest guy ever.

The fact that the whole thing was for charity was pretty great.

Jennifer? I like her. For the moment. Being one of Eric Ripert's sous chefs earns you a lot of goodwill but personally I found her to be the most professional of the chefs in terms of how she interacted with them. Personality wise, she seems like a robot, but I feel like that's somewhat of a front.

Mike Isabella must be the Italian guy you're referring to, and yeah, I agree. I think he's a jackass.

Which one went to MIT-- was it Eli or Kevin? I like both of them a great deal, and again, Eli earns goodwill by virtue of connection to a chef I like (everyone's favorite Top Chef runner-up, Richard Blaise).

I'm also giving Hector a chance. Deep-frying a steak wasn't a great idea but it sounds like that's sort of a cultural thing based on his own words post-judging and per Wolfgang Puck's statement during deliberation.

No, there's only one, I just couldn't remember if it was Kevin or Eli.

And I agree with what you're saying 100%, I was just pointing out that what Hector did wasn't some "wtf" idea. It came from somewhere. It just wasn't the best idea considering who he was cooking for. (And where he was cooking.)

I think I have Kevin and Jen as my two horses. Yes, I'm picking two. I cheat like that. I'm with Mundt regarding Kevin, he seems cool as hell and he's not only a talented cook, he's a passionate one. You have to love cooking a lot to turn down a free ride to MIT.

Robin doesn't, to me, seem any more out of place than Carla did last season, and we all saw where Carla wound up. So I'm not going to pass any sort of judgment on Robin as of yet.

And I like Ron. A lot. I sort of furrowed my brow at the explanation of his vice, too, but the guy seems like he can cook, and he's fun.

For the first part, Tom Colicchio in his blog wrote about how he understands her position and feels for her as well, and also about how her complaint is still sort of strange. For one, the first wedding challenge on Top Chef was for two grooms, and for another, in his words,

Ashley still managed to perform, and made one of the best dishes of the evening according to Todd English. It's the second dish that sunk her. She has proven, though, that she's got some skills.

I'm not sure I anticipate Jen becoming bitchy; I suspect people will start to view her as "the bitch" because she's pretty much competition oriented (though so far not to the detriment of her fellow chefs), and no-BS. Lisa was bitchy. Jen...well, Parker may be right. I'm still rooting for her either way. I love her style.

Beardo is the man. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. And I'm with you on Hector too, he's pretty clearly talented-- he just needs to make sure that he cooks the right food for the right people.

And the brothers make for a compelling storyline. My man Ron fell flat this time around, and I'm hoping that his first episode dish wasn't just a fluke. Other than that, no real complaints*: So far, I'm really liking this season.


*Gail Simmons, in her blog, wrote about her disappointment towards Mike Isabella and his sexist remarks in the first episode. He's just lucky that the judges don't see that stuff until the season is in the can, so to speak.

My fiancee and I both knew as soon as Ashley started in on a second dish that she was setting herself up for failure. At least she didn't let the second dish distract her from making a really good first dish; it could have been a lot more of a catastrophe than it was, and the only reason she was up there was so the chefs could intone that she shouldn't make the same mistake later on in the competition.

I hear what you're saying about Jen. I think I may have misunderstood you a bit there. I too appreciate people who know their craft, and I won't pretend that I wasn't interested in her partially because of her background with Eric Ripert. That got my attention right away; that speaks very strongly of her ability and she has not disappointed so far. She's an awesome cook. But I see what you're saying in that her personality will probably set her against the other chefs. We'll see how it plays out. Unless she goes full-on Lisa/Dale/Stefan or something, I don't think she'll lose my admiration.

You know, I like Hosea; he's a nice guy. He seems like he'd be cool to hang out with. That said since the last season ended I've actually come around to a similar view of him as Top Chef; he just doesn't seem to have the same fire and passion for cooking that other winners hold. Even Hung, who isn't exactly Mr. Expressive. He's a cool dude and a good cook but I don't really know if I think of him as a Top Chef.

If I have one problem with this challenge, it's that the end result will probably feed into Mike I's sexist philosophies. Not terribly happy about that.

Since we left off talking about Mike I., it seems fitting to start off by saying he did a great job outing himself as a jackass to the judges. If you wouldn't put a throwaway dish on your restaurant's menu, why would you do so in a competition like this? I kind of think Preeti's defense of her dish, stating it was actually better than a lot of the other dishes out there, was almost more offensive, but still-- not a smart thing to do.

Jennifer really shined in this challenge. She might be the first person in the show's history to really successfully play the role of Executive Chef. And Kevin continued to just be good. I sort of get the feeling that he doesn't have a mediocre dish in him.

The Voltaggio brothers both continue to impress as well. This is almost the Voltaggio, Kevin, and Jennifer show now. I can't say that I'm disappointed. I would like to see Hector get a little bit more love, but it could be that he just needs the right challenge to really show why he's a James Beard nominee.

I like Hector's sensibilities and personality, and he was able to put out a couple of quality dishes during his stay. Good attitude, too. I can't really explain it beyond that. I was, to be frank, really shocked that he went home; yes he fucked up his protein but boy did he know what he did wrong. Mattin and Ashley seemed to be much better candidates to me. My vote honestly would have been for Mattin, but like Diva I'm also kind of tired of Ashley's sour attitude.

I don't get a douchebag vibe from The Brothers Voltaggio in the slightest. Not sure where that is coming from. They're supremely professional, though I expect we'll get to see them have a nice little sibling spat at some point in the future, and they're ridiculously talented. On Mike V.-- did anyone else kinda get some weird crushing-on-each-other vibe between the two at judges table? I swear that during his praise of her skill and professionalism, he was a hair's breadth away from also saying, "and she's the prettiest chef on the show". I don't often fall to this level of gossip, but they were both a little flushed in the cheeks while talking about how great they worked together, so it's sort of hard not to bring it up.

I agree about Mike I. riding the TBV wave to success, though to be frank he DID make top 3 of the Quickfire on his own. He might just be skilled. He's still kind of a douche, but I wonder if he's a douche by virtue of where he comes from as opposed to a douche by choice. I dunno. There's almost something likable beneath the thick layers of douchiness, or at least that's sort of what I detect.

Poor Jessie. She seems like a cool person, and I am certain she's a talented cook, but she punted each challenge and let tilt take hold too often. She needed a huge shot of confidence; you could see she was lacking that in each meeting with the judges.

And yes, so far, this is still more or less the Mike V., Bryan V., Kevin, and Jennifer show. Top 3 is going to be made up of 3 of those 4, easily. I wonder if we'll see both brothers competing in the final challenge. Wouldn't that be something. Yeah, I'm probably being premature in that call but it just seems like the right one at this point. (Or at any point.)

One last thing-- I think a lot of chefs in past seasons have been talented, but not talented enough to support their inflated self-images. I think this season's batch of chefs are far more talented than past seasons for the most part, and I think that anything that resembles cockiness can mostly be interpreted as just being confidence. That said there's been very little cockiness on display. Very professional group so far.

Apparently I did. Oooooooooooo-weeee!

Good point. Hung definitely had an ego almost too big for the kitchen-- but hell, he had a reason to be that way.

From Tom Colicchio's blog, on Jesse:

What a kind thing to say. And on Mike I.:

He also has some choice things to say about Mattin, and man oh man do I ever wish Hector had cooked that damn meat properly.

That's sort of an interesting point. But I'm with Diva on this one. I don't see it as being that odd; for a while my brother and I didn't see each other that much and that was more or less what our relationship became. That's distance for you. At the end of the day they're brothers and they have love and respect for each other-- I mean, they almost always take the opportunity to mention how happy they are to see the other win.

Now let me just say-- that trout dish sounded fucking amazing. Tom Colicchio's blog just makes it sounds that much more amazing and delectable.

Eye-fucked. I love it. Thank you, Parker.

Ashley could be the dark horse. Mike I. could also come from behind, though I doubt that that is anyone's fantasy or desire. Beyond that I really have a hard time seeing a top 3 that doesn't consist of a Voltaggio, Jen C, and Kevin.

Glad Mattin went home. Also really great to see Tim Love get some more exposure after TCM; I remember first seeing him battle Morimoto on Iron Chef American with chili peppers as the secret ingredient, and I've been a fan ever since.

I think Mike I could actually surprise everyone. He's proven in the last couple of episodes that he can be successful without riding on the coattails of the Brothers Voltaggio, albeit only in Quickfire challenges. I mean, I'd rather not see that happen, and I think there are greater odds that it WON'T happen, but still.

I kinda thought Eli and Mike were both being pissants over the whole camping thing; definitely it put Brian ahead of Mike as my favorite Brother V. Brian just exudes professionalism; he is utterly lacking complaints or whining, and he seems to have left excuses back at home. He's pretty amazing. It'll take the rest of the season to tell but he may easily be one of the most skilled chefs ever to appear on the show.

I'm sort of in agreement about Ron and Robin. I sort of dug Ron at first for his heart and his story but his dishes just haven't been up to snuff compared to those of his competition. Robin is just a disaster. Seems like a cool lady and I bet she makes a good dish in the safety of her own kitchen but she hasn't performed well here.

If Ashley makes top four, I'll be surprised, but then, top four is generally all about surprises. Maybe Ashley, Kevin, Jen C, and Brian V?