top chef all-stars tomorrow!

YES. So excited for "Top Chef" to start its All-Stars season. I loved the Voltaggio season so much, and then last season was way too much about the personalities (or "personalities") and not nearly enough about the food, and I didn't love it. But now, with the All-Star season about to start, I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces (hootie hoo!) and getting excited about the show all over again.

Some thoughts:

• They sure know what they're doing with that "food fight" theme in the commercials. Do I want to see Tiffani dump a bowl of pasta over Spike's head? Of course I do. (And it only gets better on a repeat, unless those horrible "Top Chef: Just Desserts" commercials where Zac was always trumpeting "My desserts taste like my momma made them and then someone slapped her in the face." My response: "But wait, if she was slapped after she made them, they were already done, how would that change them?" My husband's response: "Sounds like they weren't very good, then.")
• But I digress.
• (Clearly.)
• 18 chefs is a LOT, but at least we know them, so it should be OK. Huge starting casts for "Top Chef" and "Project Runway" are generally a pet peeve of mine -- how are we supposed to keep all those strangers straight?! especially when everyone has a fauxhawk?! -- but I totally understand why the Magical Elves wanted to bring back as many people as possible. We've all got our favorites. More chefs, more viewers. Sure.
• So we've got the people I'm SO excited to see, the people I really dread seeing again, and the "fat middle" of the rest, where I'm meh. And when I actually put them into categories, I was pleasantly surprised to see how many were in the top category.
• DREAD: Marcel (S2), Spike (S4), Mike I (S6), Angelo (S7). I suppose they needed some villain types, but seriously, the mere sight of either Spike or Mike causes me to break out in hives. Angry, angry hives.
• MEH: Tiffani (S1), Stephen (S1), Elia (S2), Dale (S3), Casey (S3), Antonia (S4), Fabio (S5). Most of these folks, I feel like they got their shot and they lost fair and square, so I'm not sure what value there is -- for them or for us -- on a return. But okay. We'll see.
• EXCITED: Tre (S3), Richard (S4), Dale (S4), Jamie (S5), Carla (S5), Jen C (S6), Tiffany (S7). Not only did I feel like nearly all of these people were amazing chefs (I mean, come on, Richard Blais is a genius!), I also feel like they were in some way wronged with a loss, so if anyone in this category wins I'll be a happy camper. And sure, maybe I would've liked to see Sam from S2 or Lia from S3 or Kevin from S6 (who was reportedly offered a slot but turned it down), but I'm not gettin' all het up or anything. This is plenty of awesome to look forward to.

So we'll see how the season rolls out. I've been burned by All-Stars seasons before (I'm looking at YOU, "The Amazing Race") but I have ever reason to be hopeful. And hungry.

Comments

[Jen Erickson]

Hootie Hoo! Your excitement is bubbling over on this page and onto my kitchen table! :) It's reminding me of my sister's fascination with the show "Cake Boss". Can't wait to hear how you like the new season. I will "view" it through your eyes.