Last night’s Top Chef premiere didn’t stray far from the tried-and-true formula of previous seasons: product placement, lusty shots of Padma, and a high-level of requisite cheesiness, but at an hour and 15 minutes, it packed in one doozy of a first ep, some seriously entertaining new characters, and a number of "cheftastic" moments. With 16 new contestants, a new city, and 75 minutes of drama to cover, let’s get right to it shall we?

First off, a rundown of the cheftestants from the New York crew:

1. Dale: the sous chef from Buddakan, hypercompetitive and possibly a future villain.

2. Andrew: the guy from Le Cirque, token spaz with an affinity for dropping the ‘F’ bomb. Damn entertaining.

3. Mark: the New Zealander from Public who isn’t afraid of using vegemite.

4. Lisa: Who also used to work at Public and is “great at making breakfast”

5. Burly Manuel of Dos Caminos

6. Nikki the “Italian girl” from 24 Prince

7. Spike from Mai House, perhaps the biggest hipster in the group. (Note the tilted fedora in his pic.)

Summary: At the least "out of the box" location possible, Top Chef Chicago began at Pizzeria Uno, where info was given on the first Quickfire. One strange twist: two of the SF chefs, Zoi and Jennifer awkwardly announced that they were a couple, which will only prove interesting in episodes ahead if the pair go far. On to the kitchen: in yet another predictable move, the cheftestants were asked to create a deep dish pizza. Upon “delivery” of said pizza, the top cheffers showed up at the “house” of (surprise!) mystery judge… Rocco DiSpirito, while he was clearly on break from shilling for Bertolli. Most were atrocious, but favorites included Mark’s vegemite pie and possible villain Richard the “molecular gastronomist’s” odd-sounding peaches and tea pie.

In the elimination challenge, cheftestants competed head-to-head in the creation of classics. As usual Bourdain presided as first episode guest judge, along with baby faced Rocco. Winner was Chicago chef Stephanie’s Duck a la Orange. Losing dishes included the lethargic Nimma’s salty shrimp scampi, Mark’s ‘pretentious’ duck, smarmy SF Chef Ryan’s ridiculous piccata, and SF Chef Erik’s nachos/soufflé. Outcome: The fragile Nimma from ATL was sent packing.

Highlights: Ryan’s concern that his bready piccata would cause him to get sent home and he’d “never be able to show his face” to his peers again. And how many times he mentioned cooking since he was 11. Andrew’s foul mouth, hyper behavior, and for finding a nemesis in Richard. (Also, was he kidding about not knowing the recipe for mayo?)

Predictions: Richard is clearly one to watch as a tough competitor, and Stephanie as well for coming out on top at the outset. Possible villains: Dale, Richard, maybe Andrew.

Filed under Top, Reality TV, Top Chef

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