Top Chefs

Rick Bayless wins Top Chef Masters. He is a damn good chef. He forces you to look beyond Chipotle and Chi Chi's and really embrace true Mexican food. Hubert Keller is a great chef too but he's a little old school with his dishes. Too many mousses. Overall Top Chef Masters was a mistake that I pray Bravo does not bring back. If I never see Kelly Choi again, it won't be too soon.

As for the new season of Top Chef Las Vegas, HOW THE HELL DO YOU ONLY HAVE ONE CHEF FROM NEW YORK? I hate New York, but c'mon, the best chefs are in New York and to have three chefs from Atalanta and one from New York, who is not even an executive chef...The producers are trying too hard to be different, but unlike American Idol where a singer is a singer and can be great no matter where he/she is from, if a chef has never worked in New York, or I might argue Las Vegas now, they are not really a "top" chef. I like the brazen L.A. guys so far and the one woman who worked for Eric Ripert. Good to have Padma, Tom and Gail back. I hope the absence of Toby in the first episode lasts for the whole season. He was supposed to be the Simon Cowell of that show, but really showed little respect for the food and cared more about shoehorning in his catchphrases. It felt very scripted with Toby and it might as well have been the Real Housewives.