Top Show

It seems inconceivable that it took me so long to discover Bravo’s reality cooking competition Top Chef, but now that I’m a viewer, I’m completely hooked. The dishes, the drama, the faux-hawks—what’s not to love?

I was compelled to start watching this season in particular because I read in one of the many Atlanta-based food columns that two local contestants would be in the running. Atlantans Richard Blais and Nimma Osman may not be well-known to the American public, but Nimma is a chef at the much-lauded Repast in Midtown (read my recent review here) and Richard is a local celebrity (and molecular gastronomy superstar), having worked in the kitchens of Two Urban Licks, One Midtown Kitchen and Element, to name just a few.

*****************************SPOILER ALERT***************************

Sadly, Nimma was eliminated in the very first episode for serving some seriously salty shrimp (say that three times fast). One of the judges deemed her plate inedible and she, and her knives, were sent packing. So, that’s left me pinning my hopes on Richard, who has made an impressive showing thus far. In Episode 4, he captured the win with his smoked salmon with faux-caviar and white chocolate wasabi sauce inspired by the movie Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. When his portable smoker when kaput mid-dish, he actually burned wood chips over the fish to impart a smoky note—now that’s thinking on your feet.

If the contestants themselves weren’t reason enough to watch, then host Padma Lakshmi is. Padma, soon to be the ex-Mrs. Salman Rushdie, is a former model who ousted Katie Lee Joel (who inevitably will be the ex-Mrs. Billy Joel) as host in Season 2, presumably because Katie had all the charisma of a turnip. While Padma’s culinary credits are a bit dubious (author of “Easy Exotic: A Model's Low-fat Recipes From Around The World;” yeah, ok), she at least injects some liveliness into the critiques, always fast to announce her displeasure for a dish. And her sizable arm scar (really the result of a car accident, but whatever) gives her just the right amount of “Is she a bas-ass?” intrigue to keep me watching.

If you’re late to the game this season, fear not. In a move that appears to be necessitated by a lack of other quality programming options (Step it Up and Dance? No thank you, Jessie Spano.), Bravo reruns Top Chef constantly. It’s not hard to find a time that they show all the episodes leading up to the current one, so you can not only get caught up, you can get totally hooked. Join me, won’t you?