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Top Chef thoughts?

5:37 PM Thu, Mar 13, 2008 |  | 
Bill Addison   E-mail   News tips
tompadma.JPG Whew. Thursday is mad deadline day and I'm just now catching my breath. So, gang, late in the afternoon: What did you think of the first episode of Top Chef?

I'm into the cast. Love the twist with the two women from San Francisco, and the reactions it elicited (augmented, no doubt, in the editing process). Coco500, where Jennifer works as executive chef, is a fabulous restaurant. Three words: tempura green beans.

Also enjoying the immediate macho tension between Richard and Andrew. Andrew has a colorful, if monotonous, vocabulary.

We could have seen Rocco DiSpirito and his Bertolli-hawking appearance a mile away, even though deep dish pizza is, by this point, way more American than Italian.

(Ending spoiler for DVR watchers ahead, stop right now!)

Poor Nimma seemed doomed from the get-go. I haven't been to the restaurant in Atlanta where she works, but I've heard it's solid. When they showed her being all solitary, going to bed without hanging out with the others, I knew her 15 minutes of stardom were up.

Those soufflé snafus were awkward. Soufflés can be tough without some practice, though any chef should know the fundamentals: intensely-flavored cream or egg yolk base aerated with beaten egg whites for leavening. Those were some sorry examples.

Anyway, we'll see how things shape up. I'm kinda into it and, format-wise in the fourth season, kinda over it. You?

P.S. -- This just in from the wires. My ambivalence seems to be in the minority. Chicago appears to be the magic ticket for TC's ratings:

"Season to season, Top Chef premieres have grown, continuing Bravo's hallmark of increasing viewership with each original franchise cycle. Last night's 10 p.m. Top Chef: Chicago premiere increased from the third season premiere (6/13/07) by 11 percent in total viewers (2.256 vs. 2.024 million) and by five percent among adults 18-49 (1.475 vs. 1.407 million).

Online, BravoTV.com saw double digit gains for the Top Chef: Chicago site generating a 30 percent increase in page views (540,000 vs. 415,000) last night, compared to the Top Chef: Miami premiere in June 2007."


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