Top Chef All Stars - Episode 1 - The Gang's All Here

So who watched Top Chef: All Stars last night? I did – and I thought it was the most enjoyable 75 minutes of television I’ve seen in a long time.

Please Note: I purposefully didn’t “Drunk Tweet” the show in order to take good notes and write a proper recap today. However, two things conspired against that…

• I forgot to bring my notes with me.

• The “All Star” Cheftestants are, much like the Top Chef Masters, are so aware of themselves, their ‘characters’, and their images – that it may be difficult to recap. DRAMA = FUN RECAPS, and these Cheftestants are all celebrities now, and most of them know each other. So I wonder just how much DRAMA there will be this season.

Here are some bullet points just from memory. Forgive my scattered train-of-thought:

• Last night was a great walk down Memory Lane, but I’m not sure casual fans of the show enjoyed it as much as I did. The elimination challenge was awesome – recreate the dish(es) that sent each person home, but it was a little bit insider-y.

• 18 Cheftestants is A LOT of people to keep track of.

• There is a special place in my heart for the Season Four (Chicago) Cheftestants – since it was the first season I recapped. And as much stank as I threw toward Dale Talde and Spike Mendelsohn – they are actually now my two favorites.

•  I love Dale because he’s a smack talking shorty who called out Chef Michael Chiarello on his douchery during Top Chef Masters. And I love Spike because… well, he’s Spike. As Chef Bourdain said last night – he is probably the sneakiest M-Fer to ever appear on the show. And Spike is actually a nice guy – I’ve corresponded with him on Twitter, and he totally doesn’t hate me for calling him an Asshat or accusing him of having a homobromance with Crazy Andrew.

• On the other hand, there are some Cheftestants who I simply cannot stand. Marcel, Mike and Stephen fall into this category. I also don’t care for Casey (I’ll never forgive her for what she did to Carla) and Elia. And I swear to Jeebus, if Angelo wins this I’ll be furious.

• Gail. Boobies. ‘Nuf said.

• I love how happy Tom Colicchio and Padma were to see these Cheftestants again. You could just see by the smiles on everybody’s faces that they are enjoying this.

• Fabio. Oh Fabio … how I love thee. In my eyes, he is “Top Dog … Italian Dog” – but I thought he was gonna go all Tony Soprano on Anthony Bourdain’s ass last night after Bourdain talked smack about his pasta.

So, what did you think of last night’s episode – please let us know in the Comments.

UPDATE: To read my Episode Two Recap, click HERE.

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