Vegas, Baby! Vegas!

Finally, the main event. Top Chef: Las Vegas premieres tonight on Bravo at 9/8c (p.s. why can’t Central time get with the program?). Here, a preview of what we we’re expecting to see from the contestants:

We Wish Would Win, But Probably Won’t

Ron Duprat: He just appears so jolly in this picture, how could we not like him? Plus, he is, ahem, large of stature, which makes us trust him immensely. Fat chefs know food. A skinny chef is like a mechanic who doesn’t own a car….coincidentally, also how we feel about male gynecologists.


Honorable Mention: Kevin Gillespie. Jolly AND redheaded? Resemblance to the Brawny Man captures our hearts every time. Kevin is so happy he couldn’t even make eye contact with the camera in this picture. But we suspect that this might be another Michael Midgley (Season 2), who was so likeable and sporadically brilliant and yet never quite able to get his head in the game. Take a look at Midgley's MySpace profile, where he endearingly includes in his list of heroes: Hugh Hefner, John Madden, Anthony Bourdain, and his mom.

Contenders for Top Douchebag

Michael Isabella; Preeti Mistry; Eli Kirshtein

Remember last season, when Richard, Jamie, and Patrick, the three openly gay contestants, banded together to form “Team Rainbow”? This season boasts not one, not two, but THREE faux hawks – “Team Douche” is born! (Think Bravo will put that on a t-shirt?)

Don’t believe us that a hairstyle can sum up one’s personality? Take a look at Preeti’s cheftestant bio, where she is asked to describe her favorite simple summer recipe: “Fennel Crust Marin Sun Farms’ Rack of Lamb, Saffron Parsnip Puree, Heirloom Carrot and English Pea Ragout with Pinot Noir Reduction.”

REALLY? That’s a simple summer recipe? In elementary school she probably practiced writing her name as “Mrs. Wylie Dufresne” on her Trapper Keeper.


Honorable Mention: Michael Voltaggio, who doesn’t quite have a faux hawk but is rocking some seriously early-to-mid-90s spikes. This man is single-handedly keeping LA Looks in business.

We're assuming Michael is a "Mega Mega Hold" kind of guy.

May be Faking his French-ness


Mattin Nobila: He claims to be from Biarritz, but in his picture he is wearing a horizontally-striped shirt and a SCARF, which seems a tad staged to us. All he needs is a baguette and a beret, and a thought bubble above his head that reads, “Americans are fat.”


But Seriously

Since we haven’t seen any of these people actually cook yet, it’s near-impossible to pick any favorites. However, just looking at bios, we’re interested in:

Ash Fulk, whose motto is “if it grows together, it goes together.” Plus, wears a bowtie.

Bryan Voltaggio, who appears from his picture to be the only chef not trying to fit into a contestant stereotype (e.g., Overdone Caricature of a European Person, title held last season by Fabio and now by Mattin). He and LA Looks (Michael Voltaggio) are brothers, which we hope should make for some interesting scenarios.

Hector Santiago, who is a James Beard nominee and has a broad range of influences, having worked with Jose Andres (the chef credited with bringing tapas to America) and Wylie Dufresne (Mr. Molecular Gastronomy himself). He also claims to be working on a “hot pepper project” which involves “taming the heat.” We don’t know what this means but it sounds kind of bad-ass.

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Tune back in to PPYKAG after the show for an episode recap and on Thursday morning for our first week’s Power Rankings based on the cheftestants’ performances tonight.

Oh, and follow us on Twitter: @PackYourKnives.

[Photos: Bravo]