I am not one to complain about more Top Chef in any form. I love the original, I liked Top Chef Masters, I even—in theory if not in first-season practice—liked Top Chef Just Desserts. But while I eventually grew used to the format of Top Chef Masters, I wished from the beginning that it could have had the same format as the original, with a constant cast and one chef being eliminated each week.
Well, my order is up! For the new season, debuting April 6, Bravo has announced that Masters will indeed follow this more serial format, rather than the playoff system that it has used the first two outings. The flip side, I’m guessing, is that it meant the show could not attract quite as huge names for the cast (though I don’t know the details of production, I have to assume this format is a greater time commitment). But the new cast, listed below, still contains some names that will be familiar to restaurant and/or food-TV junkies (including Floyd Cardoz, Traci Des Jardins and Mary Sue Milliken).
All this, and Christina Hendricks! This season’s specials coming up after the jump:
