Top Chef All-Stars: Who's the Baddest of the Best?

They're 18 of the boldest, brightest, and best culinary minds in the country. But who's the baddest?

It's an arbitrary and unwinnable argument, but those are the best kind, so we asked the newly revealed cast of Top Chef All-Stars this simple question: Who is the biggest bad-ass in the kitchen?

"Jen Carroll. She's a tough little bitch," Mike Isabella told us. He wasn't alone. Jen racked up more votes for the honor of ultimate kitchen bad-ass than all of the other cheftestants, except for one. A handful of All-Stars drifted in her wake grabbing at least one vote, including Mike, Tiffani Faison, and Marcel Vigneron, who in turn threw his vote behind Tre Wilcox. "The guy is a beast," Marcel says. Well, Tre's definitely remained a beast in the gym since our time with him in Miami (seriously, wait until you see him this season), but the baddest kitchen beast of them all, at least according to most of the residents of the All-Star abode is...

"Richard Blais. He just is," Tre said. His housemates seemed to agree, as Richard edged out Jen in our bad-ass ballot. "He's a thoughtful, creative and talented chef," Carla added, throwing her support behind Richard's bad-assedness.

Of course, when you're working at an All-Star level, there's a thin margin between first and last. As Tiffani told us, "All of us as a group... pretty bad ass, yo!."

Fair enough. We'll find out when the All-Star bad assery commences December 1. But what do you think? Which Top Chef All-Star is the biggest bad-ass in the kitchen? In case you missed the announcement, here's your All-Star lineup:

Elia Aboumrad
Stephen Asprinio
Richard Blais
Jennifer Carroll
Tiffany Derry
Tiffani Faison
Carla Hall
Mike Isabella
Jamie Lauren
Dale Levitski
Antonia Lofaso
Spike Mendelsohn
Angelo Sosa
Dale Talde
Casey Thompson
Marcel Vigneron
Fabio Viviani
Tre Wilcox