"Top Chef" is back! And with its return comes a new host, a new batch of contestants and, of course, new challenges. This week, in the first Elimination round, the chefs each drew a knife bearing the name of a judge, who gave their groups instructions. Longtime judge Tom Colicchio asked his group to roast a whole chicken and compose a dish with both white and dark meat. Gail Simmons, who now also serves as the show's executive producer as well as judge, instructed her chefs to make a stuffed pasta.
Meanwhile, "Top Chef" winner-and-alum-turned-host Kristen Kish asked her group to make a soup with rich, fully-developed flavor. Of course, all of these culinary tasks are difficult to executive under a time-crunch, which is why it was noteworthy when (spoiler alert) the week's first overall victor, Manuel "Manny" Barella, decided to bypass any shortcuts. “I’m not doing store-bought chicken stock," he said. "Especially not for the soup challenge.”
