The season will include 17 contestants, as in prior seasons. Eric Ripert will replace Toby Young on Top Chef‘s judging panel.The new chefs introduce themselves by cooking a dish that best represents their home districts while layering in their own signatures.

So many chefs, so little time many chefs. I have faith that this season will pick up, but tonight‘s episode didn‘t offer much of a "wow factor."  Like, remember when they did the Mise en Place Quickfire in Miami and those two people were eliminated immediately? That was exciting and I loved it! This Quickfire just established that Kenny and Angelo are kind of a-holes, and will butt heads for the rest of the season. They‘re also bringing back the "High Stakes Quickfire," which I thought was only a Las Vegas thing. Shouldn‘t it be more . . . patriotic or something?  
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