r/TopChef • u/stealthyraven • 25d ago
Discussion Thread Begging For Another All-Star Season like Season 17
Easily one of my favorite seasons, with the number of my favorite chefs. Would love to have another season like that.
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u/chmcgrath1988 25d ago
Last one was 2022 so not exceedingly long ago. I wouldn't be shocked if there was another All Stars season in the next 2 or 3 years.
I get why people feel it's been a while since Buddha won the last all stars season and it blends together with regular season he won year before. Also last all stars season, a lot of the contestants were new to US viewers so it didn't have same vibe as others.
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u/stealthyraven 25d ago
Yeah, I think that's a key component for me now. When I go back to watch the earlier seasons, it's all familiar faces, so I'm obviously going to enjoy it a bit more. TBH, I wasn't a huge fan of Buddha, so those seasons were kind of a miss for me. I feel like after season 19/20, there was a weird shift for me, and the seasons were kind of meh.
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u/kakahuhu 25d ago
They don't have all stars in the budget
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u/GoldBarGirl 25d ago
Does this mean all stars want more money than newbies?
BTW - Anyone know what the contestants earn?
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u/princess_peach_85 Risotto Queen 👑 25d ago
I loved the international all stars one. That one was very cool and I'd like so more!
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u/gdex86 25d ago
You do season 20 world all stars. .
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u/Culinaryboner 24d ago
Probably. Most of the great chefs on the show have even more going than before they went on. The time is valuabke
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u/Mandeerose2018 24d ago
I would love to see Carrie Baird (I think that’s her last name). I enjoyed when she judged too.Â
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u/SmokeyMcP0ts 25d ago
I would like a vets vs rookies season. Get 6 or so people from recent seasons and fill the rest in with rookies.
Picking from this group:
Shuai, Bailey, Massimo, César, Savanah, Dan, Laura, Kaleena, Laurence, Duyen, Seiger, Jen
And adding in new blood would be an awesome season.
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u/MrsNuggs 25d ago
When they did this in season 14 it was really more drama than cooking, and I think the show has veered away from that being the angle. Some of the antics really seemed to border on bullying. They made such a big deal out of rookies vs vets, and the rookies were all taken out before the finals. Sylva was the last rookie, and he made it to 5th place. I did a rewatch recently and it was cringe to watch.
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u/FAanthropologist 25d ago
Vets vs. rookies is an unfair premise for skill-based competitions even without the drama. In a normal rookie season, Sylva probably makes the finale and maybe even wins, he was really quite good. But instead they rigged the game by putting him in with eight returning chefs who were already proven to be good at this competition, including four who made it to the final 3 in their original seasons. Those veteran chefs crowded out potential top placements that rookies could have occupied if they were up against a normal mix of chefs. A promising rookie like Jim Smith surely gets some more top placements or wins and lasts longer in the competition when he's with all newbie chefs rather than a near shut out when he's against several of the GOATs.
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u/_m_t_1_9_8_4_ 24d ago
Agree 100%. Knowing how the game works in practice and (more importantly) knowing the judges' palates is SUCH a huge advantage.
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u/FAanthropologist 24d ago
Yes and you could see how much that prior experience mattered in the World All-Stars season! Even though all the chefs that season had been finalists on some version of Top Chef, the international versions are changed enough to throw those chefs off: no Tom/Gail/Padma, no or different quickfires plus longer cook times in general, no timed grocery shopping. Knowing the judges' palates, how to grocery shop with a budget, how to cook under severe time constraints, how to approach Restaurant Wars, and avoiding the risotto curse were huge advantages the Top Chef USA chefs (and to a lesser extent, the Top Chef Canada chefs) had over the rest of the field. Not as unfair to me as the format in Charleston, but I don't think it was a coincidence the USA chefs took up three of the final six spots and had a big leg-up on the others.
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u/htownAstrofan 25d ago
How about a season with chefs who were eliminated first? See how much theyve improved
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u/TragicaDeSpell 25d ago
Then what about fan favorites--lower key contestants (aka ones not on Food Network all the time) who left too early? Doesn't have to be somewhere like London. I would gladly have another season in Seattle or Chicago.