Top Chef 2: In Retrospect

Top Chef holds a sweet spot in Bravo's cupboard of reality shows. The first season served up more than adequate portions of intrigue, misdemeanor, challenges, and most importantly, good food. Season two promised the same sort of kitchen action, if not even sweeter and more intense. Now that it's ended, what did it really boil down to?

If you haven't seen the first season of Top Chef, then there would be no basis for comparison. Overall, the second season held its own. The new host Padma Lakshmi, wife of preeminent writer Salman Rushdie, brought a lot of sass and glamor to the show. The judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons were darlings and as usual, we were served up a display of their excellent and critical palates. Among the contestants, there were the good guys and gals, the villain that everyone hates and the scandals that brew around the corners now and then. It was all amusing enough to keep you glued week after week. The guest judges were industry heavyweights and renowned chefs whose appearance would be enough to make you gush and envy the contestants for having had a chance to meet these folks. But the most important question to ask was, who could really cook? Who was really deserving of the title of Top Chef, together with all the other perks that Bravo was serving up to the winner?