I have to say that I have loved your show "Top Chef" and have watched nearly every episode but last night's episode that flagrantly showcased these quite exquisite Texas homes was pretentious and highly offensive to me. It was especially offensive to me during these very hard economic times when food and homeless shelters are filled to the brink and can many shelters can no longer feed or provide shelter. Last night's episode epitomized what Occupy Wallstreet's message is all about.

It is not common to find people who understand Salmon in an area where it typically isn't fresh. I have foodie friends from inland areas that simply don't understand how a fin fish should be cooked... I would wager that if the salmon was rare and they weren't adventurous, several would turn their noses up at it.

Listening to your explanation was insightful as to how the judges made their choices. Thanks!

Love the show, loved how it started out with the extra contestants at the beginning.

HOWEVER, when you bring in outsiders to judge, please don't bring in people that not only know nothing about food but have weird dietary issues. (Like the real Housewife would wouldn't eat pork but nobody told the contestant)

These couples in Dallas were actually just something to fast forward through to get to the cooking. They aren't just a distraction but actually make the show unpleasant to watch.

Heather and Nyesha are showing they're true colors in the kitchen! (very ugly) Such a fuss over a colander, girls! tsk tsk Looking forward to seeing them both get the Tony Lama up their rear end! ; P

I hope that was not a lion or tiger's claw around Padma's neck in last nights show,=. If it is real shame on her!!!!

I couldn't agree with commenter Marji more. Eating Chuy's overcooked salmon couldn't have been any worse than having to watch wealthy snobs pretend to know something about cuisine. And what made the elimination round stranger was the fact it was paired with cooking non-fresh/canned/pre-packaged ingredients in the quickfire... Perhaps it was intentional to create contrast, but I just ended up feeling even more offended because of it. The juxtaposition didn't convey "you can cook amazing things whether you're rich or poor," but rather "Texas is a wasteland... unless you're blond, skinny, and married to a super nerdy, rich dude!" I just can't believe the producers made such an egregious oversight.

You can get very good wild caught fish in Dallas that is a day or less older at Whole Foods and other local markets but you still have to cook it correctly.

OMG, that lost show was extremely cringe-worthy. Clearly, it shows money does not assure taste.

I hope the first Dallas show is not indicative of the how Dallas will represent itself. There was a huge drop off from San Antonio to Dallas. San Antonio came across as geniune yet tasteful, from the Culebra Meat Market to Boehler's to chef Johnny Hernandez to John Besh. Dallas was all glitter, no class. Even the 15 year old girl from earlier in the season showed more class than anyone last night. Step your game up, Dallas.

I didn't find it offensive that they chose to film a progressive dinner with an array of socialites. What I am offended at is the socialites they chose! Come on! There are people in Texas with a lot more personality in their little pinky than that bunch. Gummy bears...really? That guy was 12 pretending to be a grown up.

Going to Highland Park with a bunch of plastic socialites who like gummy bears and don't like cilantro is hardly showcasing Dallas or Texas for that matter. I am assuming these people have some inside connection that got them onto the show. Let's see Lisa Vanderpump from the Housewives of Beverly Hills was on Top Chef Just Desserts recently. Is this some kind of trend? I live in the Dallas area and am a TopChef fan. So far this season has been underwhelming and this particular episode was the worst that I have ever seen and I have not missed an episode . . . ever.

Padma - I need to know where you got your bracelet - I'm dying over it!

As a huge fan of top chef past seasons and a native Texan I am very upset with how the producers of top chef are portraying Texas. I am from Houston and can not understand for the life of me why the show would skip out on the state's largest, most diverse city. I feel that top chef is trying to have their Texas season fit into big hair, tejano stereotypes and since Houston does not fit into the stero type we were excluded. Houston has large gay, African, south American, Indian, Chinese populations to name a few. We are an international city where the Texas accent is not often heard. We are the fourth largest city in the united states and the largest city in Texas! I can not understand how Houston was stubbed. We have access to cuisine from all over the world. We also have the whole cowboy scene as well, we are home to the country's largest rodeo and cook off!! I think I am done watching top chef...since I live in a city with over four million other people, I am sure I am not alone.

I have heard of progressive dinner parties before, but I haven't been to one. You make a good point about the extra clean-up, but I think it is a great way to distribute the cost of a dinner party among the guests. I think I'll try to organize this sort of thing for my friends over the holidays. I am loving Top Chef Texas! I can't wait for the next episode.

I can't say that I have managed to catch all Top Chef episodes on the evening they originally aired. I have had to watch some the next week or, when I remember, on DVR. What I can say is that I have never had to change the channel to avert my eyes and ears from a Top Chef train wreck. I have never missed an episode in nine years so I have seen as celebrities, children, museum-goers, even rocket scientists act as judges, deciding someone's fate in a contest on which they had no real business offering criticism. But what happened this past week far surpassed that. Those of us who tune in to witness the culinary expertise of gifted individuals, some of whom we genuinely come to care for, got a glimpse into a pathetically superficial world of overindulged people. What was worse was that those caricatures of real people became the episode's focus. The producers should be embarrassed to have allowed this episode to air, as I'm certain the contestants were to have been (barely) featured in it.

I am tired of hearing Top Chef contestants get upset when they are asked to make a dessert. If I was a Top Chef I would have at least 3 desserts in my Cooking Repertoire. I not near being a Top chef and I know how to make a pie, cookies, fruit desserts etc. They sound like making a dessert is beneath them. When you are picked for the show practice some desserts people.

Paul1970 --Well said. And, Marji, I agree, this segment WAS very offensive, and apparently OWS has not permeated the powers-that-be consciousness at BRAVO. Maybe some skilled editing would have benefited this episode. I agree with all of the commenters who thought the uber wealthy circus was over the top--in every way. BRAVO has been mired in controversy when real life manages to infiltrate their slew of "reality," shows. (As with Housewives of Beverly Hills.)

Top chef what happened!! Why are we in Dallas Going to wealthy homes cooking!! Not cool, why not go To the ghetto too! I love the show but getting aggregated At the elitist attitude surrounding good food and cooking. Let's chill out a bit and come down a few pegs.

I can't imagine a group of people with whom I would least like to share a Progressive Dinner. There was nothing interesting about the host homes other than what they could buy. Buying is easy, getting a personality is not. I watch every episode, sometimes two or three times, but this Progressive Dinner Party was a real clunker.

Houston wasn't snubbed by Top Chef--they just chose not to be part of the show because they didn't want to pay the fee.

But a TC episode in Houston would have been awesome given the incredible diversity in one of the country's largest cities.

I love Top Chef but I didn't like this episode at all. I thought the people hosting these progressive parties were ridiculous. Their kitchens did not look at all used or cooked in. When they were discussing their likes and dislikes, (Gummy bears, really?) I wanted to shut off the show. These people may have more money but they certainly did showcase any educated palates.

It's totally stupid you picked Texas as the new location for Top Chef. Bet the ratings are in the tank. I mean really Texas - please not a food destination at all. Should of picked Chicago - now that a town with some ciulinary art.

Did anyone else notice that Nyesha Harrington was NOT shown during the quickfire? What gives?

Top Chef is my favorite show.T.C Texas is awful. Where did you get these people? I can see that they have excellent credentials. No one stands out.Too many are petty and childish.I think that Padma needs to go .I know that she has done her own shows and books.Yes ,she is cute. So what? By the way,what is that lump who laid into that other chef over shrimp doing? This was a low point for me. Things can only get better. I