Charting Top Chef

Wherein for future use, you can view the spreadsheet


What we're doing with our free time.

Confirming why they're my favorites to win, the only ones with three or more top finishes (ordered by my preference):

1. Richard Blais. Calm, cool, and collected. The show is depicting him as the chef to beat. Twice he's served dishes that kinda freaked out the judges until they tasted it.
   
2. Stephanie Izard. Comes across as a bit nervous and stressed out, then impresses with impeccable technial skills and a first-rate palate of flavors. She's the tortoise everyone will overlook. I'd like to see her and Richard collaborate.
   
3. Mark Simmons. Face it, left to his own devices, Ryan would have mucked up the Movie challenge. It was his idea and only Mark's skills pulled it off. Also, during a quick cut in the show, Mark and Richard were shown helping plate another team's dish. I'd like to see behind-the-scenes stuff like this to see how everyone interacts in the kitchen.
   
4. Andrew D'Ambrosi. If he's half as annoying as the show portrays him, that's an unhealthy amount of ass. However, looks to have some serious skills and when teamed with chefs he couldn't realistically condescend to -- Richard and Dale -- looked like he played well with others.

Dale Talde is my darkhorse, if only because the editing hasn't given him much of opportunity to do anything but whine. That's a danger sign, slightly offset by him impressing Boulud with his knife skills.

Ryan, Spike, Nikki, and Zoi should be the next to go.



**The season 4 wiki also has a color-coded chart. Well, slightly color-coded. I think mine makes more visual sense.