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Someone should open a Top Chef restaurant featuring winning dishes from all of the shows. Maybe some of the TC contestants and winners, as well as other TC Masters could do cooking demonstrations. I would love to try some of the food seen on the shows.

To all of the fans lamenting the loss of the original TC, I believe that this version is not a replacement, it's more of a special edition. If I remember correctly, TC usually airs in the late fall/early winter? It may seem it has been forever since we have seen the bromance of Fabio and Stephan, but if there is only one season per year, we have a bit to wait, but it will be back, with Tom, Padma, hopefully Gail, Ted, some Bourdain, and no Toby. (I get the feeling that even Tom does not understand Toby's critiques! If a new critic is necessary, I think that Jay Rayner would work so much better than Toby). TC will be back!!

You are so funny! Well I'm glad you were able to make it into the country because so far I can't imagine the show without you. :)

I love this show. It's all about the chefs and the food for me. I can watch them cook these dishes all day long.

I love this show! After last season's debacle, I was not sure that I would ever return, but I think you have a winner here. Finally, it's about the food, not about the pathetic sexual gropings between two boring, talentless fools who should never, never be allowed to produce offspring. The judging is constructive and the camaraderie among the chefs is refreshing and the toournament format is fair.

I particularly enjoy watching the masters -- and erstwhile T.C. judges -- learn what it is like to be under the gun. I laughed out loud to see Wylie Dufresne run around like crazy, dropping F-bombs every other word. It's not just about the money; Their reputations are on the line. That's enough drama for me.

Wonderfully well-written blog, I look forward to more! And I really enjoy Top Chef Masters - as said by others, the focus on the food and not the clash of personalities is so refreshing.

Wait, reading the blogs makes me think that TOP CHEF is being skipped to bring us this??? *sigh*

This show is a poor distant cousin with none of the excitment of the original. I hope this is just a temporary thing, and doesn't replace the original. Somebody tell me true....

Enjoyed your blog. And I enjoyed the show. It was quite refreshing to see the chefs concerned about the food and NOT about the money. I felt all the chefs were interesting and exciting to watch. Personally, I was pulling for Christopher Lee, but that's just because he is so easy on the eyes. (So are you, Mr. Rayner). I thought the judging was a little too soft. I was expecting a little more fire. I would have liked to have seen a former Top Chef contestant host the show. Still, I will be faithfully watching every week.

Fabulous...with a capital "F". I think I am hooked. Engaging comments, fair analysis, clever culinary challenges testing the Master level skills...it makes me want to watch each week...and eat for that matter. Do I rush to my pantry or do I watch a repeat episode? It's a toss up. All I know is that I is I will be back as a viewer. Looking forward to read more from you Jay. Keep the opinions coming. By the way, the suspense of "missing chicken on the plate" was just the amount of drama I needed.

Just wanted to second Katie's comment. I actually stopped watching the regular series for a couple of seasons over the head-shaving incident because that's not what I want from Top Chef. I want a show about the food, and that's what I'm getting with this. It's a refreshing change to see the contestants having a sense of humor about the whole thing and having fun instead of calling each other names and bitching about the tough challenges. Hubby and I were actually saying we hope they do more seasons of this in the future.

Wow! What a pointless, empty blog. You're supposed to write about the food, pal.

It amazes me that any British person could be selected to judge food. My recent trip to London opened my eyes to just how limited the British palate must be after eating, greasy, dull sausages, burned toast, dull as dishwater coffee and boring fish and chips. Absolutely everything lacked flavor. In fact the salmon tasted as though the flavor was extracted from it!

By these comments here and on the first show, you must have dulled taste buds. You do not seem like a discerning critic, with a delicate palate.

I must say that I don't understand why British critics are brought in to judge any culinary contest. My recent trip to London opened my eyes to what they eat... It was dank, tasteless glop. The coffee was like day old dishwater. Even the toast was burned! Greasy sausages and fish and chips didn't impress me. I never felt American food was fabulous. However, my UK trip proved that it could much worse... If you grew up on bland, boring food all your life, how could you possibly have developed a delicate palate for fine cuisine?

Is there a listing of all the future pairings in the first round of Top Chef: Masters? My friends and I like to have weekly bets about which chef will win, and it'd be nice to know ahead of time who will be participating that particular week.

What has made Top Chef enjoyable is a combination of the new chefs and the well established judges, I don't know what part of the Top Chef show recipe is included this year except the format. Where is Tom, where is Padma, where are the new chefs that are learning and growing during the season. A better name may have been Master Chefs and saving the Top Chefs - Masters name for a season of returning chefs from past seasons. I don't know the judges although I respect their opinions, but where are the regular judges - it appears that not one of them wanted to be part of this knock off season. I have never heard of Kelly, and her hosting seemed a little too scripted and forced. I'll probably watch the season, and will most likely enjoy portions - but I would have loved a true Top Chef season with the correct cast and format instead of the generic knock off that was selected.

I didn't like Top Chef Masters at all!! what happened to top chef? the top chef i know and love is gone, masters? come on! seriously? i get that its for charity and all but i like the competition! bring back the competition! seriously, i have the highest respect for all these chefs but i can't stand where this is going! wheres padma?? wheres tom??? this isn't top chef!!!!

6/11 Viewer - that was one of the things I liked best was that there weren't any shaving heads, temper tantrums or over-the-top crazy drama. Instead there was a focus on the FOOD - what a show about chefs should be about. I loved it and I loved Jay's contributions to the judging. Can't wait until next week.

Loved the blog. The show was so-so. I predicted the winner of the challenge at the beginning of the show. Thank goodness for the fast forward button on my DVD player. I skimmed through a lot of the show. I hope the future shows are not as predictable. I too miss Padma and Tom.

Well-done blog! You write wonderfully and insteading of rehashing what we already know you've shared new insights. Thank you. Although at first we were afraid the chefs regretted their decision to participate when shown the microwaves and told about the dorm room, we ended up really enjoying the show. It was also nice that you and the other critics were able to have independent ratings and did not have to come to a consensus decision. We also enjoyed watching Fabio and his team redo Chef Keller's winning dish. Look forward to future episodes!

I was disappointed in the show. The two other critics seemed to be more interested in commenting on the environment instead of focusing on the results(and for the shower-anyone ever watch Seinfeld? Even in your blog you focus on the sets? Unless you are joking. If any of you really watched and understood TC you would know that Tom, Padma and Gail focused on the results. The challenging circumstances were a given. I hope moving forward you all stop making lame comments about "how tough it was to cook" and just critique the food. And lets hope the chefs stop acting like they are doing us all a favor by being there. I mean the reciting of awards was ridiculous....

I was so excited for the new season! It is the only show I have to watch and I was sad to say I turned it off and went to bed. I thought it to be a bore. As well as I missed Tom and Padma! I feel like this show this is kind of a rip off of the show Chopped.

I was so looking forward to this show, truly talented and successful chefs competing, couldn't get any better, right? Especially with Hubert, cause I love him, but it ultimately had the excitement of Food Network's "Chopped" or "Next Food Network Star". I am almost afraid of what they will do to Wylie...can I bear to watch? I watched it again on Amazon VOD, it didn't help, I think I will cancel my season pass. No offense to all the great chefs involved, the show just is blah, and under-seasoned.

Okay Top Chef is one show I never miss so I was excited to see TOP CHEF Master coming on. First off I agree not to hot about Kelly sure miss Padma and her personality. But will give Kelly a chance. I enjoyed the show but it was not what I expected. I would like to see listed somewhere the chefs and the charities they are supporting. Reason I am a huge supported for Autism Speaks and would like to send something special to the chef who supported this case. No I am not austic although I am deaf, dyslexic and disabled but i do love the special folks who work with these angels.
Anyway I will be back watching next week.
Shweet Sandi

I was disappointed in the show as well and I was really looking forward to it. Wondering what happened to Padma and Tom? Will they possibly be competing??? I thought your blog was funny, and I look forward to your wit throughout the rest of the show but I do hope to see some familiar faces other than the contestants.

Bravo, Jay! No pun intended -- heh. Marvelously well-written blog. And I must say, I am now in love with you. I have been laughing out loud for 5 minutes over your solution to mid-life crisis. Eagerly anticipating your next installment.

I enjoyed your presence on the show as well as this blog post. I do have issue with Kelly, however. She seemed forced and overly scripted and her voice was at least two decibels higher than anyone else's. I miss Padma, her empathetic manner, and her grace. Honestly, I will give the show another chance or two because, one, I like you, Gael, James, and Hubert, and, two, I am a huge Top Chef fan; but, if Kelly keeps coming across like she is trying to sell me Oxyclean or Shamwow, I'll wait until Season Six of the traditional Top Chef.

I didn't know who Jay was before the show, but he did a good job. And this is one of the best blog posts ever written for a Top Chef show! (I guess that's why he is an employed writer!)

I had no idea what to expect from this show, but it is fun. I'm not sure all the chefs will have the entertaining personalities of this bunch, but it does look promising. (Hubert Keller has charisma!)

What a fun show!! Clever challenges and great judging. Loved the girl scouts as judges!!

OK, last night I could not stand you but you've won me over. Very funny and honest blog.

First - Jay, you are a terrific write and I look forward to reading more from you. But I found this show totally boring even though the challenge was interesting. I think using established chefs, whose lives will not be changed an iota as a result of participating in this show, takes away a major element of reality show entertainment (same thing with "Celebrity Apprentice"). I LOVE "Top Chef" and most of Bravo's other reality shows and think that some of the appeal is in the unknown. I took a lot of time last night trying to analyze why I didn't like this show. Perhaps because there is NO element of surprise: these are professionals who aren't going to get in fights, get drunk and shave heads, have a melt down on tv, etc., and as I said before, no lives are changing here. Bummer.

Great blog. Great read. Loved the show.

Was bored out of my wits and I was so looking forward to the show. Where is the dynamic, where is the banter, the tension, the hunger to win? These guys are all too successful and it showed - it made for very dull television-viewing. We need Tom Coliccio and Anthony Bourdain to throw in some truth and honesty. Yawn Yawn Yawn.

At least the commentary had some 'bite' to it.

I almost missed seeing the show. Didn't even know the premier was last night.

Wonderful blog. Well written and witty.

I wonder how many past contestants tuned in for this!

Great blog from the Brit!!

I think I have a crush on Hubert. And I laughed out loud at the dorm room challenge. We did that pasta thing in the bathroom too when I was in college. To this day I cannot eat mac and cheese or stuffing from a box (made in a hot pot).

I'm so glad my summer will be even better now with this program!

Somewhat disappointed in last night show Guess I expected more - love the blog - Jay is a great writer

Finally! a blogger (besides Bourdain) that can actually write and is a joy to read. Should be interesting to see what your british sensibility will bring to the judges' table. The Toby guy who judges the mere mortal version never really caught on. (He had some good one-liners but didn't seem really passionate about the food.)

Oh my -- what a well-written blog! Did not expect such wit to emerge from the guy with the forbidding photo. This is commentary I will look forward to each week.

Great debut! Much more than I expected. Go, Hubert Keller!