Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

One of the aspects of Top Chef I hate is not getting to know the chefs. Not getting to see how a chef evolved into what they are today. You might think someone is your fav, they might have some interesting culinary philosophies and then POOF, they get eliminated. Top Chef Masters seems to have worked their way around that. In our first Championship Round, the chefs are asked to make and serve their signature dish. If you're like me and are only familiar with one or two of these masters, it's a fun peek at chefs in their culinary prime, doing what they love with passion and excitement. It's also a chance to see them back when they were young and unconcerned about goofy hats or sleeping with the burros.Love those Adidas, Rick. It also shows us the more personal qualities of our Chefs. Maybe a flash of insecurity as one ponders cooking for one's peers.It doesn't appear that they put any time constraints on them except that they are all going to eat together so obviously it's got to be done at the same time. There's no shopping or restrictions on what they can make so I'm thinking the pantry is stocked full of whatever the chefs might want. Yet even in the short flashes of watching these chefs cook you can see their personality shine through. Art Smith seems like someone who has the most fun cooking......haranguing Hubert, the classic French chef, with his Fierce Southern Spatula. Hubert taking it all in stride.Our two quiet stoic female chefs, heads down, working away in their own little flaming worlds.
Michael, ever the showman, speaking with his hands as he describes his dish of quail and wild fennel pollen, almost as if he were orchestrating the ingredients onto the plate.

It was a joy to see the camaraderie and respect these 6 chefs have for one another and their chosen profession.Too bad someone has to leave.