Top Chef Masters -

by Bliz

Top Chef Masters Interview: Episode 2

Left to right: Wylie Dufresne, Suzanne Tracht, Graham Elliot Bowles, Elizabeth Falkner

Well Top Chef fans, the moment has finally arrived and the long awaited Masters edition is upon us. It may be lacking in on-air hook-ups, phallic cooking references and involuntary head shavings, but goddammit, the food porn is back! And quite frankly, I’m not ruling out the headlock/head shave just yet.

ES sat down with this week’s masters as they discussed getting a taste of their own medicine.

For anyone who hasn’t seen the show yet, the format has changed: instead of a bunch of aspiring chefs in a house for six long weeks arguing and crying (while the audience takes bets on who’s getting the boot), Masters features a four-person competition of seemingly well adjusted, professional chefs battling it out for their respective charities.

For someone like myself, this is a wonderful shift from the predicable sound cues and “suspenseful” final product. For others, this show losses the edgy addiction of watching who’s going to win, have a mental breakdown or make Padma spit out her food. But come on, if you want over-hyped reality television, I’m pretty sure Bravo has something to meet that need.

Maybe in the weeks to come, we’ll see these top caliber chefs succumb to their baser, reality show instincts, but tonight’s episode seems like a bunch of friends coming back from a camp retreat still high from group hugs and ‘smores. So we decided to provide our own interpretation by reading in between the lines of the interview.. Ali G like liberties were taken.

Our full interview as well as some smack talk commentary after the jump.

Cheflebrity Smörgåsbord: Stop the British Judge Trend Before It’s Too Late!

How are you going to spend your tax refund? You know…that money that you overpaid in taxes but which you act like comes from hitting the pick-three lotto. It’s amazing how eager we are to blow it on luxury items when we get it on April 15th, but which we’d otherwise put away into investments if we received it every other week. Of course, these days, I suppose it’s less about “luxury items” and more about “mortgage payments and food.”

Times are tough, but you still need to splurge sometimes. This week, don’t feel bad about buying yourself some Fancy Feast for tonight’s dinner! On with the Smörg…

– Gee, Top Chef Masters looks like a pretty classy operation. You know what it needs? A British judge. Kill me now.

– “Hot” off his stint on the short-lived Chopping Block, Marco Pierre White will be cruising the world and showing tourists how to cook. For the traveler who likes to mix in some verbal abuse with his rest and relaxation.

– Mark Bittman rails against…well…the concept of edited cooking shows, I think. At least Bourdain narrows down his scorn to Rachael Ray or Sandra Lee. Focus, man, focus!

After the jump: Masochism…or a reasonable reaction to Gordon Ramsay? And Padma Laskhmi without any clothes (no, really!)