Top Chef Duels
 

Not the most intriguing show, and the lineup is rather weak, but at least it gets me a Top Chef fix until the next season starts up again.

I've always been impressed with Marcel's cooking, but his d-bag-iness always makes me root against him.

Agreed on all counts. I don't know why they couldn't do a season of TC Masters this summer instead - I'm not confident, but it seems like it has been a summer series in past years. Heck, even TC Desserts would be more compelling, I think.

Yeah, we keep checking in with him in various iterations of TC, and while he seems to have mellowed a little since his original season, the growth seems incremental at best - his cooking, on the other hand, has really grown.

In our house, we sometimes say someone has "pulled a Blaise" when they choke in a contest - (spoiler alert! Results coming...) it was good that he managed to avoid that fate this time.

Once they got the useless Emeril involved Top Chef was dead to me. It's great that he can make hot dogs and french fries and say Bam and all, but he's really useless in every way otherwise.

Interesting perspective. Emeril as an occasional guest judge notwithstanding, TC seems to me to be the most legitimate of the cooking competition shows out there, in terms of attracting high-level talent from the exec-sous/chef de partie ranks ready to become exec chef/owner.

I think that in some of the more inconsistent seasons, the producers have thrown in more gimmicky challenges from time to time, which is a detractor. But (TC Duels notwithstanding) to me, it's the best of the lot. (And this from a guy who hosts an annual Chopped-like competition with judging, secret ingredients, and everything!)

Bam! :p

Are you Ilan Hall? :D

Ha! I wish I could cook as well as Ilan. Nah, just a guy who seems to take his avocations a bit too far (I enjoy a specific genre of music, so started an Internet radio station; I enjoy cooking competitions, so started one at home; etc) - a characteristic I suspect is shared by many on FT, each in our own domains.

In our version, four teams of two face off in three timed rounds with secret ingredients, and the victors take home the Supper Slam cup. (We're not cool enough to offer rusty knives like Ilan. :D )

To bring this slightly back on topic, TC Duels makes an interesting contrast with Knife Fight. TC is certainly more antiseptic-looking, although I think the complexity and refinement of the dishes is greater (probably a function of having so much more time). I think the judging is better on TC, too. But Knife Fight is the one I think would be more fun to watch in person!

No, no spoilers; however, tonight's episode was probably the best thus far.

Two spectacularly talented chefs and nice guys to boot. Both were class acts. What a contrast from last week. Unlike prior episodes, it was hard to root for one over the other and then not feel terribly disappointed for the second place finisher. There was no "loser" tonight.

Agreed completely. Although I think the TC Masters just generally feel like they have less to prove than the other TC cheftestants, those two distinguish themselves even in that group. Both were incredibly fun to watch.

I have mixed feelings about the final outcome.

I'm thrilled that one of my favorites won; however, that's tempered with my concern that it will be next to impossible to get reservations at the winner's restaurant and that the menu prices will be increased substantially.