Confrontation and Cuisine: Another Look at the "Top
Chef Reunion Dinner"

post from Televisionary on 05 November 2009 03:05:00 AM. © Televisionary

Where there's Marcel, there's drama.Last night's Top Chef Reunion Dinner, a nice twist on the culinary series retrospective, offered both Marcel and drama in equal measure. After all, there's been maybe one other Top Chef contestant (cough, Tiffany, cough) who has stirred up as much conflict and confronation as Marcel has. From the head-shaving almost-incident to the post-series bottle-throwing, Marcel has been at the heart of some memorably tense moments, including one from the Season Five finale that had never before been aired in which he suddenly becomes involved in a verbal battle with supercilious judge Toby Young.While I already hinted at my thoughts about the Top Chef reunion special (you can read my advance review here), now that the episode has aired we can discuss some specific details from last night's special.Personally, I really enjoyed watching the reunion. While it was a break from the competition itself (as well as the current series), it offered not only a breather but also a look back... and I'd have much rather had some new Top Chef content this week than face an evening of repeats, as we often have to during the course of the series' run. Given that there have already been five iterations of the series to date, Top Chef has produced some memorable contestants, including some that are known for more than just combative personalities; I was glad to see that the producers brought back not only the most dramatic cheftestants (and thank goodness...

Read the full article at Televisionary (http://www.televisionarytv.com).