Foodie TV: New 'Top Chef Masters' Season Premieres Tonight After 'Top Chef: All-Stars' Battle Royale (Watch a Preview)
by Richard Sharp
The new season of “Top Chef: Masters” kicks off tonight on Bravo with host Curtis Stone, but not before a “Top Chef” reunion special that promises plenty of tension.
This season, twelve chefs will go head to head using the elimination style challenges from the original series, as opposed the usual “Top Chef: Masters” scoring-based system. The winner of the show will donate $100,000 to charity.
Celebrity chef Curtis Stone, aka "The Quiet Terminator" from “Celebrity Apprentice” season three, will serve as the newly appointed host of the series along with returning judge James Oseland, and food critic and author, Ruth Reichl.
The series is apparently starting the series off with a bang – introducing the highly popular and heated Restaurant Wars competition in the first episode.
Speaking of heated, before the season opener of “Top Chef: Masters,” Bravo personality and programming exec Andy Cohen will host a reunion special, and from the previews, it looks like viewers should expect controversy, as former contestant Elia Aboumrad from takes on seemingly unimpeachable James Beard Award-winning host Tom Colicchio for being a “sell-out” (cue the Diet Coke commercial) and not embracing sustainability at his restaurants.
"He's all about high-fructose corn syrup and there's only corn-fed beef on all of his menus now," said Aboumrad in a December Chicago Tribune article.
The article set off a media spat between the two chefs, which is sure to boil over in the face-to-face setting.
Watch the preview for “Top Chef: Masters” season three.
Watch a preview of the “Top Chef” reunion.