LOVE IT !!! Hi Swap Partner.....how the heck are you? Keeping out of trouble I hope. LOL I've received some good tips & recipes from the show too, and I do agree about that Tom, he can get really irritating that's for sure. Well let's enjoy the show !!! Diana55 P.S... Offering any new "RUB"S lately ? LOL

LOL Diana!!! Hey there swap partner! Keeping out of trouble....trying my best with no success. The forum needs a skeleton fix that's for sure...a another swap would be cool too. I can offer up a few "rubs" too...LOL!

Okay, I missed most of the first show due to phone calls and family stuff. Like I mentioned...thakfully they run the shows more than once!!!

David

And I am so glad the show is going to be at 9 pm EDT this season! No more falling asleep the last half of the show.

Looks like Kenny and Angelo are the front runners after last night's first episode. Kenny won the Quickfire Challenge hands down and the Elimination Challenge threw them right into the fire by cooking for a large event. I was surprised that the first challenge included a $20,000 purse to the winner. Top Chef must be acquiring some sponsors with really deep pockets.

In reading the cheftestant bios, most of them have major credentials, then they get thrown into the fire of the first challenge and they are making mistakes, taking short cuts, and having accidents with knives right off the bat.

Teresa

LOL Teresa..I had that same problem...the falling asleep part..

I wasn't home lastnight until after 10..I'll have to On Demand it and catch up!

I also watch Top Chef, although I haven't caught up to the last episode yet. I was hooked on Top Chef Masters and liked watching the pros sweat it out in the kitchen. Wouldn't it be great to taste their food?

Oh, yes, it would be great.

I just finished watching the first episode (I record it). I'm impressed by the person that won the quickfire. I'm wondering how he made those potato noodles so quickly, and had time to do everything else. I just thought that his dish looked the most clever. The spent so much time on the quickfire, and so little time on the elimination challenge, I didn't have a good feel for the dishes they made, so it was harder for me to form an opinion, other than I'm glad the person that got eliminated was eliminated. I just couldn't eat at his restaurant. I think I'd start itching.

Sally

I have yet to watch it...need to get on that..LOL

Is anyone still watching Top Chef? I'm so very disappointed by this season. The producers seem to have forgotten it's Top Chef, not Survivor. They're focusing on the soap operas and, well, I'm not usually prone to say this kind of thing, but they're focusing on bs instead of the cooking. It's hard for me to like any of the cheftestants this season. And in the last episode to insinuate someone cheated or stole without actually proving it is just wrong. I've been watching it hoping it would go back to the way it used to be, but I'm getting to the point I may just quit watching the show. How disappointing. The last season was so good. Maybe they should have stopped after that. Anyone else share my opinion?

Sally

I'm pretty well behind on these types of shows. I don't have cable so until recently I never watched any of them. I did watch Season 4 (I think?) of Hell's Kitchen on Hulu recently and thought it was a HOOT!

I'm currently in the middle of season 5 of Top Chef on DVD. First time I've ever seen it. I'm going to try to find the other seasons but who knows. Is it just me or is Padma a but too full of herself?

That is supposed to read:
Is it just me or is Padma a BIT too full of herself?

May, I don't watch this show but Padma is on the new cooking channel from back when she was first starting out. she's on a show called Melting Pot that has a lot of different people on it. She is really, really bad on that Cooking channel show. So much so I can't believe her career ever went any further.

I don't even get what her qualifications are!

Try looking up Padma under images and you will see how she might have made it and why she is so full of herself. Oh, BTW I don't know what her cooking qualifications are. LOL

I've been hit and miss this season due to my hetic schudule and lots of company. I think I'm two shows behind now. Not sure If I'll try and catch up or not after reading your comments Sally. I agree it's not as good as previous seasons.

I was surprised to learn that Padma actually has two cookbooks out that she has written. She is a former model too. I'm guessing Colicchio doesn't mind escorting her to the dinners every week. : )

I'm looking forward to Top Chef Desserts. I'll be all over that one and hope it is as good as Top Chef was when it started.

David

David, that Melting Pot show she's on is about all different kids of cooking. Her part of the show is all vegetarian cooking, so I'll bet she has a vegetarian cookbook or two. Possibly even Indian vegetarian. She just didn't have much of a presence back then (it's an old show) and she was obviously very nervous. Hopefully she's better on Top Chef.

I'm still watching this season, but I don't have a favorite to cheer for yet. Sometimes I check in on the show's blogs and sometimes I am too busy.

Per the pea puree scandal last week: although the viewing audience was not actually there, they still voted overwhelmingly that Alex took Ed's puree and used it for his own dish, then won that challenge. The body language of the cheftestants and their looks to each other led me to believe that there was a hijacking of the pea puree by Alex. But I just read Tom's blog and there is room for doubt. The comment was made by Ed or another chef that they never saw Alex puree the peas and that he did not have time. So you decide.

I'm ready for Amanda to get booted off. Don't know how she lasted this long. Nothing against her personally, I just don't think she has the chops for this contest.

Teresa

cookebook, never had the chance to watch that show. I remember hearing about her cookbooks somwhere just not sure where. : ) I know she just a baby not too long ago too.

Pea puree scandal?? Guess I'll have to watch now Teresa! I agree with your take on Amanda....time to go.

David

It's either a sign of my aging or a sign that none of the chefs are memorable, but I don't even remember which chef is Amanda.

I saw Padma on an old Star Trek, Enterprise episode. I was quite surprised to see her. I hadn't thought of her as an actress, but then, that show didn't exactly change my mind about that. She was not a foodie on that show, though.

As bad as this season is, I'll probably still watch it....maybe.

Sally

I caught a cooking show (not sure how old, but Padma was MUCH younger) on the Cooking Channel and she was dreadful! She was preparing some sort of Biryani and she kept forgetting to put ingredients in, then would find the bowl in the mis en place and giggle uncontrollably. She finally gave up and just picked up a finished dish from off-camera. She certainly doesn;t seem to have any cooking chops (or anything beyond her spectacular beauty) to recommend her.

Not sure why she has gotten so uppity, but she is really obnoxious this season.

Alexa

As for the pea puree, the cameras should have been able to document whether he made his own pea puree or not. They document everything. If he did it, they should kick him off. If he didn't do it, they should publicly apologize to him. They should be able to get to the bottom of the pea-gate scandal. I haven't seen last night's episode yet, so I don't know what may have been said or done any further about the issue.

Y'all have me curious about that early Padma cooking show, but alas, I don't get that channel. She doesn't bother me all that much. I could take her or leave her. I like Tom C. and I like Gail the best. And I very much like their off and on guest judge, the white haired gentleman, whose name escapes me. I don't want to go to their website to look it up, because I haven't seen who got booted off last night yet, but anyway, he seems like such a gentleman.

Sally

I don't know how much acting Padma has done. She has been a model, was married to Salman Rushdie for several years and had her first baby this year. I don't think she has any formal culinary training. While I'm not partiacularly a fan of hers and find her too full of herself, I do find her mesmerizing to watch.

I've been watching this season consistently after watching previous seasons that I never saw before.

IMNSHO... Alex is a total SNAKE! On last nights episode, I thought he was kinda making excuses when his Italian dish got dished. He said something like... "when I was assigned Italy"... he CHOSE it!

Angelo is too full of himself. Think he KNEW Tamesha's dish from last weak was off and threw her under the bus anyway.

Won't be watching "Just Desserts"... already too many cake shows/competitions for me... not much interest in that.