Original Desmond

I think it starts June 10. Has established chefs instead of unknowns

Anita Lo – Annisa, New York, NY
Art Smith – Table Fifty-Two, Chicago, IL
Christopher Lee – Aureole, New York, NY
Cindy Pawlcyn – Mustards Grill, Napa Valley, CA
Douglas Rodriguez – Alma de Cuba, Philadelphia, PA
Elizabeth Falkner – Orson, San Francisco, CA
Graham Elliot Bowles – Graham Elliot Restaurant, Chicago, IL
Hubert Keller – Fleur de Lys, San Francisco, CA
John Besh – Restaurant August, New Orleans, LA
Jonathan Waxman – Barbuto, New York, NY
Lachlan McKinnon Patterson – Frasca Food & Wine, Boulder, CO
Ludo Lefebvre – Ludo Bites, Los Angeles, CA
Mark Peel – Campanile, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Chiarello – Bottega Restaurant, Yountville, CA
Michael Cimarusti – Providence, Los Angeles, CA
Michael Schlow – Radius Restaurant, Boston, MA
Nils Noren – French Culinary Institute, New York, NY
Rick Bayless – Frontera Grill, Chicago, IL
Rick Moonen – Rick Moonen's RM Seafood at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
Roy Yamaguchi – Roy's Restaurants, Honolulu, HI
Suzanne Tracht – Jar, Los Angeles, CA
Tim Love – The Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Fort Worth, TX
Wilo Benet – Pikayo, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Wylie Dufresne – wd~50, New York, NY

Permanent Judges:
Kelly Choi (Host)
Gael Greene (Judge)
James Oseland (Judge)
Jay Rayner (Judge)

LiquidSky

I'm looking forward to this.

bdshort

Oooh, can't wait to see this! I was disappointed that John Besh didn't win The Next Iron Chef competition, so hope to see him do well here.

chino77

so what is this? top chef but with chefs people have heard of?

Timber

I'm pulling for Bayless.

DJariya

Premieres June 10th if anyone is curious.

Gonna miss seeing Padma for 1 cycle. Hopefully Top Chef will come back in the Fall.

BDB

They are filming in Vegas right now. I'm 99% certain.

Toby is in Vegas, his family just joined him, so he's not there for a trip.

Sweet Baby James

It's Top Chef with chefs that can actually cook. It'll be interesting to see the judges bashing the cuisine of serious chefs. I'll be rooting for Besh.

Keith6601

Wow is that a stacked field. Rooting for Besh but I can't wait to see what Wylie pulls out of his hat. Would liked to have seen Colicchio actually be a contestant since he isn't a judge.

Original Desmond

Yes Tom as a contestant would have been good but i understand why he wouldn't want to put himself on the line

Mok

bumping thread it start tonight.

Original Desmond

awesome !

BDB

Was a great ep.

Loved the clips of Hubert doing dj, and the first set of judges were awesome! The redhead!

LiquidSky

Excellent first episode.

Lurker Gal

I really enjoyed last night's episode. I liked the fact that the hallmark drama that is rampant in the other Top Chef seasons is at a minimum for Masters.

tofu

Nice that they had the challenge in the dorm rooms of Pomona. Hubert Keller definitely deserved to win with that macaroni.

Sweet Baby James

You know that these guys are Masters when they get to roll in a Lexus instead of a RAV4.

BDB

I'm not too keen on the way they give the stars...

4 3 2 1, so you know who will win, and telling the chefs to pack their knives was silly.

Hubert seemed way ahead of the others, I liked the Texas guy's attitude.

Looking forward to the rest of the season

NotThatGuy

I'm stoked about this!

I'm pulling for Besh (love his place in LA).

chowderhead

no Padma = NO SALE.

BDB

Kelly Choi is no Padma that's for sure, but we do have Gail!

Sweet Baby James

I wouldn't kick her out of the sack for eating crackers.

Original Desmond

this series will be all about the cooking. Even if there were some incidents, i cant see them putting them on air because in this case, it is affecting someones business and everyone is doing it for charity

chino77

i thought it was ok. i would have preferred it to be like the real top chef though with the same contestants all season.

RichC2

Indeed. She certainly got me into Hardee's (though more because I love the Bacon Western Thickburger and it isn't part of their normal menu like it is at Carl's Jr.)