Naturally, leadership and inter-personal skills come into play as well. After all, a Top Chef should be a mentor, a teacher and an inspiration to others. As much as we knew Tiffani's track record for controversy among her follow chefs, we thought perhaps things had changed by the time she made it to the finale in Las Vegas. Speaking to both sets of sous chefs, it was striking how wholly everyone admired Harold and how Tiffani still did not command the respect of her peers. While Harold made those around him feel valued, Tiffani's inability to delegate and manage others was her ultimate loss.

So when it came time to choose the Top Chef, we were thrilled to select Harold Dieterle.

I just booked Harold's flight to Aspen for the Food & Wine magazine classic. Little does he know what we have in store for him...another outrageous cooking challenge? Yes. More mystery ingredients? Absolutely. But this time, Tom and I will be on his side every step of the way. Be sure to check out the July issue of Food & Wine for more on Harold and Top Chef...

Before I sign off, I want to add how thrilled I was to be part of this show. It was an incredible experience from start to finish, and I hope our second season will be as well. Thank you so much to all those who read our blogs each week and battled out your heated feelings and opinions on the message boards. You may not have liked what we had to say, but it kept you talking, writing and watching each week. I hope it whet your appetite too! This enormous respect, fascination and constant admiration for the dedicated and talented people in the food industry is why I love what I do. "If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams." (Life of Pi, Yann Martel 2001) Always Hungry, Gail