Top Chef

STUDIO: Bravo
PREMIERE: March 13, 2008
STARRING: Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi, Ted Allen, and 16 new contestants

Top Chef is the best reality show on cable and if not for the excellent current edition of Survivor, we could probably call it the best reality show, period. The series has been refining its own reality recipe for years and the fourth installment looks like it could be the best meal that Bravo has yet produced. Top Chef has moved to Chicago, one of the culinary capitals of the world, and found a fascinating group of 16 upcoming chefs desperate to own their own restaurants. Top Chef is a reality conundrum - where other shows like America's Next Top Model and The Apprentice have gotten significantly worse as the contestants seemed to know the game too well before the cameras even rolled, Top Chef seems to have gotten a better class of culinary masters each season and the show has only gotten better. The 16 rising chefs on the show produce some meals in the first episode that you'd pay a fortune for at a restaurant in the Windy City and it looks like this could be the best edition yet.

The first episode introduces us to a varied group of chefs from a line cook to a master of molecular gastronomy. In past seasons, it's been shockingly easy to predict who would do well from the very first episode - stand-out chefs are usually impressive from the first "Quickfire Challenge" - but there are so many impressive cooks in the premiere of Top Chef: Chicago that it looks like the season could be a close race. The two main judges - Tom Colicchio and Padma Lakshmi - are back and Ted Allen and Gail Simmons will return in future episodes, but the premiere features two guest judges that are simply legends in the cooking field - Rocco DiSpirito and Anthony Bourdain. If you know how good these guys are at what they do, the first challenge is an intense trial by fire. And, while a few go down in flames, a shocking number of contestants come out completely unsinged.

Top Chef: Chicago starts with a "Quickfire Challenge" that plays off one of the city's most popular dishes - deep dish pizza - it's clever and a few of the results should make the menu at Pizzeria Uno but it's an awfully predictable challenge for a show that usually keeps chefs on their toes (if you were going to be on Top Chef: Chicago, wouldn't you prepare a deep dish pizza at least once before it started?) The "Elimination Challenge" is much smarter, doing what a lot of great Chicago restaurants do - taking classic dishes like Chicken Piccata and Steak Au Poivre and twisting them into something new. But even that challenge is a little different than they've ever done on Top Chef with a completely new structure that we won't give away here. Like a great restaurant, Top Chef keeps switching their menu just a little bit, using fresh ingredients and making something that feels familiar and new each week. It's one of the most consistent reality shows ever and it shows no sign of going downhill. Top Chef is open for business.