My Top Five Top Chefs

Top Chef: Las Vegas is going to be the best season of all. We’ve got a brother-brother rivalry, one of the rudest contestants yet, and to top it all off, a crier. (By the way, who knew Sin City was such a culinary mecca?)

It’s hard to determine the strongest chefs this early in the game, but I’ve already picked out my favorite contestants. 

1. Kevin Gillespie (pictured)

He’s got the hometown advantage for me—I love, love, love his restaurant Woodfire Grill. Kevin got off to a good start by winning the first challenge, and even though he didn’t win this week, the judges said great things about his chilled almond soup. Plus, he’s been super nice to the other contestants so far, and he uses the work “yuck” as an adjective.

2. Jennifer Carroll

She’s mean as hell and pronounces “ceviche” pretentiously (“siveech”), but she clearly knows what she’s doing in the kitchen—and works for Eric Ripert, so she can’t be half bad. I’m looking forward to next week, when Jennifer yells at her fellow contestants for having a conversation.

3. Hector Santiago

Another Atlanta chef—his restaurant Pura Vida serves my favorite tapas in town. I got a little nervous when he fried steak last week, but he made up for it this week with a high-scoring tofu siveech, I mean, ceviche.

4. Ron Duprat

I like Ron’s flair for exotic flavors, from Creole to French-Asian fusion. Plus, he made a lobster cocktail with habanero tomato sauce, the dish from this week that I most want to taste. I’ll say it again: Lobster cocktail!

5. Mattin Noblia

Okay, I admit that this has nothing to do with his food. He’s just so…likable! Between his little red scarf and his French accent, he’s like a grown-man version of Le Petit Prince. And you can't send Le Petit Prince home. That's just cruel.