the competition is served

With Project Runway ending soon, I can only hope that Top Chef is going to take its place as my Wednesday night obsession. All of the elements are there:

1. Attractive zany hostess in high-profile marriage. Top Chef's host, Katie Lee Joel, is Billy Joel's child bride. And though Katie is only about the age of an average Blognac blogger, it sounds like she might actually have enough experience in the field to make her presence on the show less than completely infuriating:

Katie's culinary and lifestyle column, "East End Girl," is published weekly in Hamptons Magazine and will soon be a part of its sister publication, Gotham. She has also appeared on Extra, Life and Style, CBS Early Show, upcoming episodes of Food Network's Iron Chef America, Fine Living's Pairings and she has been featured in publications like People, In Style and Hamptons Style.

Katie has worked in several restaurants and gourmet food and wine stores. In 2003, she helped to open Jeff and Eddy's Restaurant, one of the hottest dining spots in the Hamptons. There she served as the house fishmonger.

2. A judge with some actual talent. Like Michael Kors, Tom Colicchio is hugely talented and popular in his field, though unlike Kors I think Colicchio's closet contains more than t-shirts and blazers. He has two of the top Zagat-rated restaurants in NY, Gramercy Tavern (28) and Craft (26), both of which received Michelin stars in the recent New York edition. No word yet on whether he enjoys one-liners with incredibly strained analogies, but I think we can all safely assume he does.

3. Contestants with actual talent. It seems like these people were picked primarily because they can actually cook. We've got the personal chef to Jay-Z and Beyonce (though I heard on VH1 that he has a special chef just for hot wings), the personal chef to Mary J. Blige (I sort of love her new album), a cooking instructor (like Nick!), and graduates of top culinary schools. So they can actually do something really cool that most people can't do, which I think is the basis of Project Runway's appeal.

4. Challenges with industry guest-stars.

In each episode, some of San Francisco's most renowned chefs will guest judge including Hubert Keller of Fleur de Lys, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake, Laurent Manrique of Aqua, and Mike Yakura of Le Colonial. "Queer Eye's" Ted Allen makes a special appearance to judge a special challenge where the competing chefs must serve a dinner party to his guests.

The series is set in the culinary mecca of San Francisco, a city increasingly known for its innovative cuisine from Fusion cooking to a fanatic appreciation of fresh and organic food products. The region is connected to world-class vineyards, and in one episode the competing chefs will have the daunting task of preparing and serving food to a room full of top Napa chefs including Phillippe Jeanty of Bistro Jeanty, Keith Luce of Press, Greg Cole of Celadon, James Devitt of Budo, Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustards Grill, Victor J. Scargle of Julia's Kitchen at COPIA, Doug Keane of Cyrus, Todd Humphries of Martini House, and John Ash of John Ash and Co.

5. Pretty lame catchphrase.

[E]ach week Katie and the judges will tell one to "pack up their knives."

6. Prize of questionable value.

The winning chef will receive $100,000 in seed money to help encourage their culinary career, be featured in Food & Wine magazine, appear at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen in June 2006, and most importantly, earn the prestigious title of "Top Chef."

Cynthia is my early pick to win the whole thing because she wears funny scarves, claims to swear a lot, and has this line in her bio: "Her cooking is as unconventional as you get: she'll use a bottle of vodka to flatten out chicken, then sneaks a few swigs on the sly." Sweet. I am sure Hova approves. Maybe that's why he flies her around on his private jet (scroll down a bit). My least favorite and hope for early elimination is Tiffani, the "bisexual Bostonian with dry sarcasm and a hunger for success [who] has no problem telling you exactly what she thinks." I think Kenneth, Cythia, and Lisa will be the last people left on the show, with the second tier being Lee Anne, Brian, and Harold.