When I was still in college, I used to stay up until 3 or 4 in the morning to catch Iron Chef. Now I’m not talking about the bastardized American version here, but the Japanese original, the one you’d tune in to in order to wonder what the hell was going on. I still kind of feel that way when I tune in to my new favorite cooking show, Top Chef (which returns to Bravo on March 12th), especially given the producers general disinterest in educating their audiences in the culinary arts. But what it lacks in elegance, the show makes up for in its Darwinian drama. Top Chef is the theory of survival of the fittest poured into a kitchen and captured on video tape for your enjoyment, and that’s why it works. Survivor certainly doesn’t meet the same standards, and God knows shows like America’s Next Top Model or Project Runway don’t capture the intensity of human beings colliding at violent velocities.

Top Chef Clip: Duck 

With Season 4 about to start, I thought it might be a good time to take a look at a few of the culinary apes who are going to be competing with each other to walk out of the jungle -- er, kitchen. I might still be smarting over the fact that Hung (that bastard) won the title of "top chef" last season, but I’m not going to hold that against the sixteen new chef-testants competing to succeed him. Set in Chicago this time around, expect lots of deep-dish pizza and, I hope, some Irish-inspired fare.

Ryan (28) is from San Francisco. Talk about lucky; he’s known what he wanted to be when he grew up since he was a whopping nine years old. When I was nine, I wanted to be Indiana Jones. By ten, I had decided I was going to become a robotic engineer and build my very own Johnny 5.

Erik (38) currently lives in San Francisco, too. He’s a third-generation chef, following in the footsteps of his mother and her father before her. My grandfather and father were soldiers and carpenters, which is why I currently write about reality television.

Lisa (27) is Canadian, which means she’s probably glad both Hillary and Obama are secretly fans of NAFTA. Look forward to her Asian-inspired dishes. I am.

Antonia (31) is from the City of Angels and is a single mother of a seven-year-old daughter. Boy, did that kid’s stomach get lucky. My mother thought Tuna Helper was gourmet dining.

Nikki (35) is co-owner of New York’s 24 Prince Restaurant. She’s also a sommelier. I don’t know what that is, but I’m hoping it’s not the French word for somnambulist. Somnambulists are creepy, and I don’t know if I’d want to eat anything they cooked, to be honest.

Manuel (33) is from Laredo, Texas. These days he brings authentic Mexican fare to New York City. Sounds good, but I live in Los Angeles. I’m kind of tired of Mexican. What else have you got, Manny?

There are ten more contestants, but you’re just going to have to wait until March 12th to meet them all. In the meantime, dream sweet dreams of hostess Padma Lakshmi. Maybe the ice queen will warm up a bit this season.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us