Top Chef: Discussion - Bravo

[QUOTE=tatertots;82219]Very cool! I am getting excited and I have heard good things about the Top Chef: Masters which should help until this starts. Not sure how I feel about having Toby around again. That pic you found looks like a rendering so it is probably a pretty new building/resort looking for some publicity through Top Chef.[/QUOTE] Yes, it was opened March 1, 2009. It actually seems pretty nice. Here are some of the specs: -A truly one-of-a-kind design, the M Resort does not feature reflective glass like many of the areas resorts. Instead, it includes skylights on the casino floor allowing natural light in – a rare feature in the casino industry. The architecture is progressive in style, incorporating horizontal lines, natural lighting and a rich color palette of natural materials. It’s definitely not your run of the mill cheesy theme resort. -Oversized guest rooms and suites ranging from 550 to 2,400 square feet. More than 70 percent of the rooms at the M Resort offer views of the Las Vegas Strip through floor to ceiling windows. -Guest rooms equipped with high-technology amenities including Bose Wave sound system, iPod docking station and 42” HD LCD flat screen television. There’s also inlaid mirror television in the bathroom. -Wireless internet connectivity throughout the entire resort, allowing guests to access wireless voice and data services, mobile phones, BlackBerry devices, PDAs and laptops. -More than 92,000 square feet of gaming excitement, including 1,900 video poker and slot machines, 64 game tables, high limit area, live action poker room, race and sports book and poolside gaming. -A buffet featuring a live action cooking studio – the first of its kind. The studio will engage diners providing them with ringside seats to cooking demonstrations and broadcasts. Perhaps it’ll feel like you’re in the Iron Chef Kitchen Stadium on Food Network. -A 23,000 square foot, world-class spa, salon and fitness center will offer 16 treatment rooms, sauna, steam and hot tub wet areas and a state-of-the-art fitness center. And the one that matters: -Nearly [B]30,000 square feet of kitchen and culinary work areas[/B] dedicated to the culinary arts. The resort will own and operate all of its nine restaurants and five destination bars, which feature the next-generation dining experience with unique culinary concepts and innovative social dining atmospheres.

At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it looks like this season features the first where brothers will be competing against each other, Bryan and Michael Voltaggio. Here's the rest of the cast list (I know a link has been provided, but this is easier): [B]Ron Duprat[/B]-40, Hollywood & Naples, FL (originally from Mare Rouge, Haiti) [B]Robin Leventhal[/B]-43, Seattle, WA (originally from Sun Valley, ID) [B]Preeti Mistry[/B]-33, San Francisco, CA [B]Michael Voltaggio[/B]-30, Los Angeles, CA (originally from Frederick, MD) [B]Michael Isabella[/B]-34, North Jersey (originally from Washington, DC) [B]Mattin Noblia[/B]-29, San Francisco, CA (originally from Biarritz, France) [B]Laurine Wickett[/B]-38, San Francisco, CA (originally from Rochester, NY) [B]Kevin Gillespie[/B]-26, Atlanta, GA [B]Jesse Sandlin[/B]-30, Baltimore, MD [B]Jennifer Zavala[/B]-33, Philadelphia, PA (originally from Cromwell, CT) [B]Jennifer Carroll[/B]-33, Philadelphia, PA [B]Hector Santiago[/B]-41, Atlanta, GA (originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico) [B]Eve Aronoff[/B]-40, Ann Arbor, MI [B]Eli Kirshtein[/B]-25, Atlanta, GA [B]Bryan Voltaggio[/B]-33, Urbana, MD (originally from Frederick, MD) [B]Ashley Merriman[/B]-32, Seattle (originally from Center Sandwich, NH) [B]Ash Fulk[/B]-29, New York City (originally from Pleasant Hill, CA) So...17, just like last season. Maybe they'll be sending someone home right away again.

[quote=tatertots;103277]Brothers will be an interesting dynamic. I gotta pull for my fellow New Hampshire-ite though! Ashley Merriman you better make us proud :D[/quote] I assume brothers as they are from the same home town, but they could also be cousins. They look awfully alike though. Yeah, if Eve is an embarrassment, I'm gonna be kind of upset :(

[QUOTE=Bacchus;112880]I like Top Chef Masters, but it does not bring the drama like Top Chef (which btw, is starting now!)[/QUOTE] I totally forgot!! I thought it wasn't on til 10!! Go Eve from the Deuce!!

[QUOTE=Bacchus;112885]It is going to collide with The Real World being it runs 15 minutes over, so I am DVRing it.[/QUOTE] It's not like RW isn't going to be on again 234384573 times this week, so I'm just hoping to catch a repeat. :D

Do you guys have an early favorite?

[QUOTE=tatertots;112912]Not yet, but I do have some early "you are gonna annoy the heck out of me" contestants. ;)[/QUOTE] Haha...yes, the cast seems pretty fun, but I do have some people that will probably annoy the crap out of me. Jen reminds me of Casey from season 3.

[QUOTE=tatertots;112924]Wow, I am kind of surprised Kevin won! The minute he said he was doing a slow cooked dish and could definitely finish in the 2 hours I thought they were giving him the doomsday edit. Fooled again Bravo editors![/QUOTE] Ugh, I switched to Real World. Kevin was the guy with the beard right? My money is on the girl with the GINORMOUS gauges leaving.

Called it! Her dish just [I]looked[/I] bad. Super glad that my girl from AA didn't go home first.