I think Angelo takes it. He was just so far ahead of last season's contestants and if he wasn't sick in the finale would have won it hands down. Dale is my dark horse.

It seems the pea puree fiasco last season also made them step up the amount of footage they shoot as they've already gone back and reviewed something.

Wow, the other 2 dishes were disasters while her's simply looked bad. Surprising decision.

A little surprised Elia went first, I thought it would be Stephen.

Based on group shots in the season preview....

Bummed Elia is gone - But this does look like a really really strong group...

Loved that challenge, but I'm bummed Elia is out already.

There are a few who seem a cut below. Mike is one, Spike is another. I'm sorry that Stefan is not here, he would have been some good competition.

My money is on Blais. He was always consistent, he'sprobably the most successful chef ever in terms of challenges won, and he also seems to be the one most irked by his loss.

Whoever wins this season deserves tons of praise, because even there there are a few weaker links, this easily is the most talented group ever assembled.

oh, forgot this!



So excited for this season!

That challenge was great, they must've cracked up in the creative room when somebody suggested it.

I totally forgot about this!!!!

I love Marcel so much...I shouldn't but I do.

Great line up

Steven has aged a lot and seems slow

Good to hear most have been successful since their first appearance on the show

Just caught this last night.

Great lineup. I only started watching since season 3, but they assembled a good bunch.

Wow! Casey looks fantastic. I've always had a thing for her since her season and wanted her to win over Hung, although he is way more talented than her. I hope she can make some impact this season. I like Tre also from that season.

I'm not familiar with the season 1 and 2 contestants, but Stephen and Marcel seem kind of douchey to me. I loved Fabio's reaction when he saw Marcel waiting for him at the elevator.

I had to laugh at Fabio for taking Tony Boudain's comments so personally. His food looked like shit. Surprised Bravo was able to snag Bourdain as the recurring judge since he still works on No Reservations.

I think it could have gone either way with Stephen and Elia. A little surprised that Elia got really emotional.

I don't really remember Marcel, but I do remember an intense dislike of Stephen. So far he seems to have mellowed a bit, but he hasn't really been on screen much. It also seems like he is not really much of a chef anymore so I expect him to go quickly.


Free advertising for his show if nothing else Not that there's probably too many people watching Top Chef that don't already know about No Reservations...

I imagine that bringing back Eric Ripert as a regular judge this year would constitute a conflict of interest considering Jen works for him.

On the "reunion" episode of Season 1, Stephen apologized profusely. He said that he was exceedingly embarrassed by how much of a douche he was on screen, and took it to heart and changed. And he really did seem changed, which is probably why he seems mellowed now. And I agree, he's much more of a front of the house guy now. While he has talent and is creative, I don't think he'll be fast enough to succeed.

They've had guest judges who worked with or otherwise knew contestants before. Seems to me that if you can get Bourdain, you get him, because he's more entertaining to most.

... Im in until she's gone, so I hope she wins. I also wouldnt mind if Jennifer Carroll won as well. If Blais wins, Im done with the show forever. He's not so much a douche as a whiney baby.

I think there is a difference between a regular judge and guest judge. I was just speculating why Eric Ripert might not have come back as a regular judge.

I like Blais. And most importantly, I want to eat his food.

Synopsis for Wednesday (12/8) episode:

"Night at the Museum"



Also an FYI, double check your DVR's. If you originally set your DVR's season pass to record "Top Chef All-Stars", delete it because it won't record episode 2 onwards. My Directv DVR deleted the listings. Future episodes/listings are under "Top Chef", which I fortunately still had from last season.

When is season 9 going to start?

I had forgotten how monotone and boring Katie Lee "Joel" is. Not surprising that she didn't make it as a TV host.

Nice little blow up as Jen left the stew room after being eliminated

Not sure why Jen was so adamant that she was right and they were wrong. Taste is taste and if it tasted bad, it tasted bad. It didn't even look good on the dish.

For some reason, I don't remember Jen being very dominant or talented in her season. And it was silly of them to let her go. Now she'll think she got eliminated because she talked back, not because her food sucked.

Well, I guess standing up to the judges isn't a good strategy.