I really loved how much fun they seemed to have. Especially watching the Girl Scout critics!

And yet, they all took it seriously, too. Listening to critics like that, face to face, has to be a very new experience for some of them, especially when you're established.

TC:M - I know! They really did seem to be having a blast (except at the end when they were abruptly competitive, hee) and I liked how they interacted with each other. It must be fun for them to get a chance to work side by side.

And I love that they listened carefully to the critiques. Definitely a new experience, and I think it's one they'll benefit from. I especially liked seeing them quail in fear when they saw Gael.

And then decide to go have another drink when all was said and done!

I'm reading the TWOP thread for TC:M, and I have to quote this about Hubert Keller:

About 15 years ago when I was in my early twenties I traveled to San Francisco for business. I had a $30 per diem for all of my meals but saved it to go out to dinner by myself (plus added my own money - so I think I had about $60 for dinner). I was in the early stages of my food obsession and after studying the SF Zagat's I decided to go to Fleur de Lys for dinner. It was delicious and special, but what was even more fun was when I explained to the waiter that I was totally splurging on this amazing dinner he went back and told Chef Keller who invited me into the back. I was given a tour of the kitchen, multiple tastes of different dishes, dessert, etc... He parked me in the kitchen and let me watch them cook, showing me stuff and lettng me taste, taste taste!!! His wife was running the front of the house and she came back and spent time chatting with me, poured all three of us glasses of champagne, and sent me home with some pastries for breakfast. Unbelievable. I was a complete nobody and they were seriously the most gracious hosts I have ever met. He is genuine and a total gentleman.

Wow!

Aww, love!

So happy about Hubert winning, although this is a man who has a mini burger, fries, and shake as a dessert on his Fleur de Lys menu (the burger is a beignet with ganache in the middle and the fries are made out of fennel ice cream), so I'm not surprised he rocked the Girl Scout challenge.

--Sutter Street represent! (FdL being 2 blocks down the street from me).

I like Masters more than I thought I would. I was worried about the format. However, I would have liked to see the top 2 advance to a semi-final round rather than just 1.

I liked that the chefs seemed to be enjoying it and learning from it. I agree that it may make them approach judging differently.

Top Chef: Masters

I really enjoyed this as well. More than I thought I would, especially since I was initially put off that there was no Tom and no Padma.

I was rooting for Hubert the whole way, and as soon as I saw his desert, I had a feeling he was going to take it.

Hey, little redhead girl, you stand up with your opinions, you rock it. I loved it because her critiques were specific.

I would bet every dollar I have that she watches cooking competitions at home, and wants to go into food in some way or another when she grows up.

I was a complete nobody and they were seriously the most gracious hosts I have ever met. He is genuine and a total gentleman.

Heart!

TCM was very fun. I think the challenges have to be kind of our there - given the calibre of chefs you're dealing with, making them really stretch themselves probably requires going pretty far outside the norm.

And I loved how much in the spirit of things they all were. (Though for someone who totally rolled with the punches all the way through, Tim Love had some serious bitchface going on when he got his scores.)

Brilliant:

I liked it that they didn't really give a shit, especially DJ Magneto, played by Hubert Keller, a cross between Patrick Stewart, DJ AM and Werner Herzog.

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