Top Chef show has some top shelf talent

From the Credit Where It's Due Department: I like where the Bravo network's head is at with their successful reality show Top Chef, where chefs vie for the ultimate prize, blah blah blah. First, I like it because they stole this idea from under the Food Network's nose. (And where you at, Food Network? Too busy developing another show about where to find inexpensive hamburgers in the Fort Worth area? Sparkling. I'll deal with Food Network in more detail another time.) But more importantly, they recognized a cooking show appeals more to the ladies than the menfolk, so they sexed it up, with some sassy (and sexy) sexpots designed to suck you into the sex vortex, also known as the TV. Behold!



Meet season one host Katie Lee Joel. Not bad, huh? And this isn't even a great photo of her -- this girl is smokin. And not only is she smokin, but she's probably drinkin, too, as she's married to famous singer and Hamptons town drunk Billy Joel. (That's a pretty funny mental picture, by the way. Billy Joel singing "New York State of Mind" for nickles outside The Blue Parrot. Good times.) When it comes to women, some guys have all the luck. Am I right Billy? Isn't that one of your songs? Or was that another one of your contemporaries? It doesn't matter. To me, Billy, you'll always be Forever Young. See, there I go again! But I shouldn't hate too much. Your wife is gorgeous, and I bet she didn't even know you were famous! She left the show after season one for some reason, but here's hoping she'll develop other projects in the future.

Now...moving on to the season two host. Behold I say!



Her name is Padma Lakshmi. Padma enjoys modeling and exploiting her looks as part of a brand-building effort (there are TONS of pictures of her on the Internets -- look if you want, but I'm not going to be a party to your smut-dredging, thanks). And she once had a show on the Food Network that they stopped airing (another bullseye for the Food Network!). And as a capper, she's married to Salman Rushdie, the famous writer and fugitive from the law of the Koran! Whaaa? I can't believe two young, hot, intelligent women are both married to rich and famous guys. That's just weird.

Anyway, ups to Bravo and to Top Chef. They really know how to run a network over there. Way to score the talent! The male demographic thanks you.

Hyperlinks:
- Top Chef [Bravo]
- Padma Lakshmi Official Web site

Technorati tags: Bravo, Top Chef, Padma Lakshmi, Food Network