Yesterday, we took a look at the cheftestants who will be competing on
Top Chef 4 and made some initial guesses as to the eight chefs who might leave the show first. Today, let's take a peek at who could potentially come a little further along in the competition.
As mentioned, we don't have a ton of information to go on prior to the competition, but we do have the Bravo bios and introductory videos to help give us a few clues as to how they might do in the competition.
So who looks like they could maybe make it to the top eight on
Top Chef 4?
I split the bottom eight into first and second halves to go, but for the top eight, I think they are all on too equal of footing based on the information provided, so I'll just list them in alphabetical order.
Antonia: She's worked at the famous Spago, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant, for six years, under a respected chef names Lee Hefter. She's also got cooking in her blood; coming from an Italian family, she's been cooking since she was a girl. She comes across as serious and passionate in her Bravo video.
Dale: He's currently working at a hot New York eatery, Buddakan, and has worked with some big names in the food world. He's been classically-trained in French cooking, but also has an interest in the flavors and techniques of Asian techniques. He appears a little cocky but still serious and focused in his video.
Erik: While his experience is pretty solid, Erik mainly landed in the top half for his family history: he is the third generation in his family to be a chef. I think this could work in his favor in a big way on Top Chef because it could mean that the techniques of restaurant food preparation are probably so deeply ingrained and second nature to him that he will be able to respond well to the challenges of time constraints.
Jennifer: She doesn't necessarily have anything too flashy in her work history, but she has worked in both France and Italy to broaden her culinary horizons. On a completely subjective note, she also seemed to have a kind the kind of focused confidence in her video that to me means she might handle the pressure of competition well.
Manuel: He's another chef who notes he's been cooking since he was very young, and he's confident that his Mexican culinary history will be a unique edge for him in the competition. He's also been classically French trained, and has worked at Le Cirque 2000 and Babbo.
Richard: I would prefer to not put anyone on this list with a faux hawk, but what can I do? He's studied with Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud and Ferran Adria, and appears to have a reputation in his town of Atlanta, GA, as a highly-innovative chef. He sounds like he might be bringing some
Marcel Vigneron-style modern-cooking techniques with him to the competition, and he certainly appears confident in his video.
Ryan: There's nothing in Ryan's background alone that put him in this half above some of the folks in the lower half, but in his video, he was one of the few chefs who seemed to indicate he was coming in with a strategy for watching out for the other chefs. Most of the other chefs talked about focusing on themselves in the competition. His method might make him lose focus, but I thought it also indicated that he is seriously considering this a competition, and being thoughtful about going up against the other chefs, which actually might help him in initial challenges.
Spike: Like Erik, Spike comes from a family in the restaurant business, and he's had exposure to some big names like Thomas Keller and Gerard Boyer. He seems to have a passion for cooking and despite the silly hat, appears to have that serious approach that seems likely to help someone at judges' table.
Will these predictions come to be? We'll start to find out Wednesday when
Top Chef 4 premieres on Bravo!
- Leslie Seaton, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
(Image courtesy of Bravo)