Top Chef: Seattle

[David Ross]

After watching the finale for a third time I have an even greater appreciation for Kristen and her talents and style of cuisine. I can't wait to try that snapper dish in my own kitchen.

[Big Joe the Pro]

I'm sure well start a new topic about this season's Top Chef Masters once it airs. In the end, I think this was probably my favorite season of Top Chef.

Really, why? I just rewatched it in it's entirety and it might be my least. It's too touchy-feely for me. It reminded me of Oprah (or at least what I imagine Oprah was, I'd never seen it) or **gasp** a reality show.

Give me some interesting competitions (without going over the top), some food knowledge, a stew room brawl or two, some nice shots of Padma and a beer and I'm a happy camper.

Sorry but I really don't care about the chef's personal lives and starting from the first episode with Jeffery and his lover, well, it just seemed to go downhill from there. If he had made it to the final I might have been interested but not before then.

Regarding Richard being arrogant; I just rewatched a few episodes of season eight and I can see how some could perceive him as arrogant but I guess I just like the guy so I personally never noticed it enough to let it bother me. Also, Jen Carroll was so blatantly arrogant and cocky in what little screen time she had that everyone else seemed to be on their best behaviour.

[David Ross]

I can see how you might think it was more touchy-feely this year. Brooke's multiple phobias-flying in a helicopter for one, I could have done without. But I liked this season the most because they didn't have a bunch of bullies shaving a contestant's head and the Chefs weren't forced into making a cheetos casserole. I thought they did a decent job of spotlighting Pacific Northwest ingredients and focused more on cooking this season. Does Top Chef rise to the level of some of the all-time best food programming on television? No.

[Werdna]

Not a bad season, but not great. Still suffers from the broken game system of sending the worst home every time, which inevitably sends home good chefs.

My idea of the day: A running scoreboard (with increasing scores every episode as a catchup mechanic). Good chefs could get points to prevent them from being eliminated for a single mistake. Can still send home the lowest scorer every week.

Still, it was a pretty epic ending and I enjoyed it. The kitchen stadium thing could have been great, but it sure felt like we saw nothing of the cooking.

[trueLife]

Yes the ending has been the highlight, pretty unique though! This is what people look for…. Always something new. She has brought up a decent revolution. Lol.

[David Ross]

The finale was a bit hokey, but it really demonstrated the ability of a Chef to work under extreme circumstances. When you can be creative and technically spot-on under those conditions, you're certainly talented.

[jharkins]

Not a bad season, but not great. Still suffers from the broken game system of sending the worst home every time, which inevitably sends home good chefs.

My idea of the day: A running scoreboard (with increasing scores every episode as a catchup mechanic). Good chefs could get points to prevent them from being eliminated for a single mistake. Can still send home the lowest scorer every week.

Still, it was a pretty epic ending and I enjoyed it. The kitchen stadium thing could have been great, but it sure felt like we saw nothing of the cooking.

That's a very interesting idea! I would love to see that happen. It seems like a lot of people had trouble with the format: http://www.thebraiser.com/gail-simmmons-top-chef-finale-controversy-today/