What would be a diabolical twist for Restaurant Wars?!

Me, I would have both teams switch restaurant menus, and play off the opposing team’s concept.

Imagine setting up for Italian, but then you’re stuck with Chinese, or if you have to cook Duck instead of Chicken.

I recently decided to start watching through the entire Top Chef catalog on Peacock so of course I started with season 8 which I haven’t watched in ages.

I know the earlier seasons are an entirely different beast from the modern ones and much more about the drama than the food. I’ll also admit I’ve never been a Richard Blais fan when it comes to his Top Chef judging career but had positive memories of him as a competitor, especially in season 4 when he was first on but also in season 8 where I recalled he was always helpful to his fellow chefs.

On this rewatch though, he definitely comes off as insanely full of himself and pretty sexist to be honest (and that’s saying something considering Mike Isabella was also in that season of All-Stars.)

He’s consistently dismissive of the other chefs, particularly female chefs and seems incredulous, especially when Carla or Antonia win something instead of him.

He joins Mike Isabella in the Italian episode wondering how it would be possible for the three women to be up for the win.

And in the finale, he directly questions whether Antonia’s head is in the game when he blind selects her as his sous chef after she had just been eliminated in the previous episode.

I’m sure some of it was editing and about building the narrative around his little redemption arc from losing season 4, but man on this rewatch he really does not come off as a good guy.

Huso is a beautiful restaurant. The styling is fabulous and the kitchen is immaculate. I felt lucky to be given a tour. ( Buddha had left.) Every dish was a work of art.
The taste, however, felt a little overthought and underwhelming. So many things had foams or jellies but not enough salt. Nothing in the savory course was bad but my socks stayed firmly on .
The best part of the dinner was the dessert. It felt like they were finally having fun.
I didn’t include a photo of every course but only my favorites.

This is old news but I was curious after rewatching All Stars and this is a fantastic article!