Top Chef

Season 6 is one of two seasons on Netflix. Hard to imagine any regular season ever coming close to the talent level again - Kevin, Jenn, Volt bros, Mike I and Eli would all be finalists on other seasons, and Vegas is a great location.

I’ll be honest, I think Season 6 was great at the time, but it’s also kinda boring. You had 4 really talented Chefs jockeying between each other and that was it. Jen Carroll also face planted in both of the seasons she did after. Mike Isabella obv did well when he came back, but it was a really top-heavy season.

I would say as far as overall talent goes, Season 18 was insanely strong. Everyone on that season ran a kitchen at the time and anyone could theoretically win an elimination challenge each week.

i was sooooo looking forward to S18 in portland
then happened covid, wildfires, and other things

curious to know what their original production was going to be

Yea, that was insanely unfortunate and terribad timing. They did a really good job all things considered and I’m sure that things like Tillamook were always going to happen.

A friend of mine is one of the investors for Tiny Fish Co, so I can ask him if Sara knew what the season was originally going to be like

👍

Next Level Chef started. Good first ep. Haven't watched a cooking show in a while.

Interested to see how Kristen handles the role starting this week. I've seen some of her other shows where she was the #1 Host and it was a little weak. But I like her and trust the production team.

it's not like Padma was a huge personality, although i do like her sense of humor.
did you see Kristen in Fast Foodies? i thought she was very entertaining and thought quickly on her feet.

But the hotness

follow on insta and see it every day

Thought Kristen was good. My first impression of the contestants was very weird. I guess that's what people are like these days. Or at least people that qualify for tv shows. Hopefully they are at least good chefs.

I really really like the format changes. Immunity in the next challenge being the reward for the elimination challenges will make it far less likely that people just play it safe. Kristen seems good and brings a good vibe. Offal hat guy needs a KITN and I couldn’t be happier to see him go home. The diversity of cuisines among the chefs should make for an interesting season.

i'm all aboard the Kristen Kish strong food opinion train
and with a sample size of one episode i think she's doing great so far

Yeah, I think she's doing a fine job. Production quality has a lot to do with the feel of the show, their production quality has remained pretty consistent throughout the show's life. Kristen is a charismatic, intelligent, and experienced host. As usual, there are always a few "wacky" "chef-testants" who are sort of the low hanging fruit in terms of talent that drop off the tree in early episodes.

Kaleena and Alisha got one of the most brutal episode edits I've ever seen from Top Chef

For real. It was as clear as a sunny day that they were getting eliminated. Production must really not have liked Alisha as she was getting the villain edit from the beginning.

Personally I was pretty happy to see it after Kaleena spent episode one calling the Chicago food scene "Just meat, potatoes, and cheese"

Totally agree and given how imbedded Alisha is in the scene, you could see how much she didn’t like Kaleena. Bitch (kaleena), you’re at Cindy’s on the Rooftop. You’re not even cooking for CCR. Stfu

I was bummed to see Alisha go. I loved her food at MFK and she used to stop into Noble Grape when I worked there

Decent season so far but having not one, but two contestants who worked at the French Laundry seems kinda unfair. It's one of the top restaurants in the world. If you're working there you've kind of already made it. I'm sure they could get a job at any restaurant they wanted or get a investor to bankroll their own place just by name dropping "French Laundry". If neither of those 2 wins, they choked big time.

There's a youtube video of Bourdain visiting years ago on his "A Cook's Tour" tv show. Well worth the watch.

New LCK twist is terrible.

Working in a fine dining setting doesn’t necessarily lead to success in this show. Bryan Voltaggio is case in point on that and he is and was more accomplished than the two chefs you noted. The season that had two Chicago chefs from Homaro Cantu’s restaurant didn’t exactly do great when you took them out of the setting that they were extremely good in.

A reason that Kristen Kish and Stephanie Cmar did so well in these is that while they were like cooks, the restaurant they worked at was well known for being an incubator of ideas and did top chef-esque dinners in vastly smaller settings. Versatility matters a lot more than where you’ve worked the line at.

currently feels like some combo of Rasika, Danny, Michelle, Manny
Soo in LCK has also been impressive

astute KDawg observation

top chef victorious typically flexes several different supplemental mussel groups
free from common complimentary style commentary

This season feels weaker than the last couple but I might just be forgetting all the early eliminations, and it's tough to compare when you have back to back seasons with Buddha who might be the Top Chef GOAT