As a rule, I hate reality TV. I never watched the first Survivor and am quite proud of that. I avoided it like the plague until I got sucked into the first season of The Apprentice. I was ashamed to be watching it, and after the final episode of the last season, I swore I would never watch it again. Because of this, I missed the first season of Top Chef. A friend convinced me to tune into an episode of Project Runway. It wasn’t bad, and I liked the competition aspect. I thought, “Wow, they should make a cooking show like this!” Little did I know, Bravo already had. To make things even better, one of my favorite cookbook authors, Tom Colicchio, was the head judge. How I missed the boat on this I’ll never know, but I have since watched every episode.

So far, I’ve enjoyed season 3. I pull for Tre every week because he’s the chef de cuisine of my favorite restaurant, Abacus. Surprisingly, I like Hung…at least for now. He seems to back up most of the smack he talks, although if there’s another Arroz con Pollo debacle I’ll be jumping off the bandwagon very quickly. I’ve agreed with most of the judges decisions with regards to eliminations. The only person I thought would be around longer is Lia, the sous chef from Jean-Georges. I think Brian, the guy from Oceanaire in San Diego, is another strong contender. I’m just curious how he’ll do once he’s forced to do a meat dish.  I know Howie has won two elimination challenges, but I’m not sold yet.  I think his time management issues will eventually catch up with him.

For all the Top Chef fans that read this, I have stumbled across some good stuff while perusing the internets. First, everyone interested in the show should read the blogs on Bravo’s website. There are some interesting perspectives from Tom, Harold, Sam, and others. Since Colicchio is opening Craft in LA right now, Anthony Bourdain is guest blogging, which is always an entertaining read. LA Eater has been interviewing some of the contestants (I refuse to use the made up word “cheftestants”…it sounds ridiculous) including Hung and CJ, as well as Colicchio himself. Colicchio has a lot of praise for the LA food scene, and apparently was at the Hollywood farmer’s market the same day I was. I rarely get star struck, but if I had run into him I probably would have been giggling like a school girl.