Top Chef Masters' first champ, Hubert Keller

Last night, Bravo premiered a softer side of Top Chef; an older, more aware-of-itself version of the brand we’ve come to pick apart like the petty vultures we are know and love. For one thing, there’s less on the line for these chefs. They’re not playing for fortune or fame—they already have both. They’re playing to win money for the charities of their choice, an act of altruism which certainly helps validate a spin-off series that lacks the teeth-gritting tension of its forebear. The real pleasure comes from watching the big-name chefs cook, and the fact that many are former TC judges.
Top Chef Masters does try to distance itself somewhat from the original. It appears that host Kelly Choi aims to position herself as the anti-Padma by speaking with the assertiveness of a baseball umpire, and from what we can tell, there’s just a smidge less product placement. Glaringly absent are the respective glistening dome and cheery smile of Tom and Padma—Gail Simmons, however, is slated to make some appearances. In their stead is an ornery bunch of food pros: New York mag castoff Gael Greene, Saveur editor-in-chief James Oseland and the requisite smarmy Brit played by Jay Rayner.

As for the actual episode, the chefs were Michael Schlow (of Radius in Boston), Texan Tim Love, Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys and Aureole’s Chris Lee. The quickfire challenge had the chefs cooking dessert for picky Girl Scouts, and Hubert Keller deservedly blew the competition away with a kid-friendly chocolate-mousse swan and whipped-cream mouse. For Masters, the chefs don’t win immunity since the winner of each episode gets a spot in the final smackdown, but are instead judged on a five-star rating system.

Going into the elimination round—which found the chefs cooking a three-course meal in dorm rooms at Pomona College using only a microwave, a toaster oven and a hot plate—Keller was in the lead, with Love and Lee tied and Schlow coming in last. During the challenge, Love pulled himself out of a seemingly insurmountable quagmire after he mistook the freezer for the fridge and froze all of his groceries, while Keller ingeniously used a dorm shower to drain and then cool down the pasta for his mac and cheese with prawns.

If this premiere was any indication, the judging on Masters is going to be a lot less intense. These chefs have already proved themselves, so it’s understandably tough for a critic to be too vicious. All four chefs seemed to have the same defense of “Hey, I cooked in a fucking dorm room, give me a break,” which the judges bought. With his perfect dessert and a well-scored meal during elimination, Keller took the episode as well as his spot in the finale, and his charity—Make A Wish—received $10,000. Choi mentioned that the other chefs’ charities also received donations, so everybody wins! Reality TV this is not.—Zachary Feldman

Next week: Chefs including Wylie Dufresne bust their humps to cook for Lost executive producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof!