Originally Posted by
magiciansampras
Kind of a weird show last night. I prefer they let them cook in a real kitchen but challenge them with the ingredients and whatnot.
Tom Colicchio wrote in his blog on bravotv.com that he didn't like the ranch challenge either. Besides cooking outdoors, he says, there was nothing specific to being in a ranch, not to mention the desert heat.
He also explains their judging criteria; it's an interesting read.
http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef/blog...io/desert-heat
(I no longer live in the US, but still watch the show, thanks to iTunes/AppleTV).