Thank You Top Chef Masters

It's as if all the seasons after the classic first season of Top Chef were practice, or rehearsal for what's turning out to be a stellar run of Top Chef Masters. I love the tension, the twists, the turns but most of all I LOVE the Mise En Place Relay Race. I loved it in Season Three when it was first introduced and I loved it in Chicago. They abandoned it in Season 5 and NY which I thought was crazy. In the Top Chef setting it either builds teamwork or it reveals the major flaws of the team. Here in Top Chef Masters we get to see the big guns doing lowly prep work. It also means......Tom gets to whip out his whistle. Now we all know that there's little chance of Tom telling any one of these chefs that their onions aren't chopped to his satisfaction so no point in hoping for that particular train wreck. However while I have much respect for this group the bar is set fairly high because of this man.Chicken Breaker Extraordinaire, Hung Huynh. Can any of these chefs impress us with the speed and the dexterity that Hung did? All I know is something different stuck out in Anita Lo's memory.

It's OK Casey, she didn't even remember your name.

Oh yeah, she's got game face.

3 vs. 3 means someone does double duty. Hubert for his team and Art for his.

So oysters go first with Keller for his team and Suzanne for hers. At the end of 15 (any pearls?) it's tied. (By the way, I sincerely hope someone made a meal of these oysters because they were phat. It would be a crying shame if they went to waste.)

Onions go next with Keller again and Art stepping up for his team. In a blink of an eye, Art is done and Keller is an onion behind.Now Michael goes into chicken cutting with a decent advantage but Chefbian Anita Lo didn't bring her game face for nothin'.

What's even better? Hubert talking smack in the background to the other team.

BAM! Just like that it's back to even. Now Rick get his turn at egg whites and Art's back for his team. But Art gets a little sloppy separating his eggs...

...and that's all Rick needs to pull ahead and give his team the win.

If you don't think these chefs aren't competitive check out Hubert's face.
They do not like to lose. That, my little Top Chef Crack Monkeys, is fun TV.