The Food Dude

Top Chef: Texas

Posted August 9, 2011 by David Cathey Comment on this article Leave a comment

“Top Chef” is headed for the Lone Star State. Unlike season’s past, crews will move between three different cities: Austin, Dallas and San Antonio. Season nine will also add a couple of new faces. Returning judges Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons welcome famed chef and restaurateur Emeril Lagasse and critically acclaimed chef Hugh Acheson.

“Top Chef: Texas” will air later this fall. With that title it worries me whether “Top Chef” might be headed down the thorny path of “The Real World,” which once was an excellent show depicting the challenges of early adulthood before converting into a made-for-cable peep show.

The addition of Hugh Acheson was an odd, combative contestant on “Top Chef Masters,” who I fear was added because he wasn’t shy about jumping into conflict. While I understand the value of conflict to narrative, one of the things I’ve always liked about “Top Chef” was the lack of production-concocted antagonism.

Wonder if Tom Colicchio will wear his chef whites if tasked to water ski around and over a shark tank off Galveston Island?

Does “Top Chef: Texas” give you pause? Or are you looking forward to seeing some familiar eateries on national television?

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