'Top Chef' takes on South Beach

By PETER COUTURE
Published June 13, 2007

Top Chef 3 Miami

Premieres from 10 to 11:15 tonight on Bravo. Before the premiere, Top Chef: 4 Star All Stars, which pits the top four contestants from Season 1 against those from Season 2, will be rebroadcast at 9 p.m. (Critics of last season's winner, Ilan Hall, rejoice!) To learn more, go to www.bravotv.com.

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Summertime, and the living is easy. Except in the kitchen.

That's because Bravo's culinary hit Top Chef, building on the success of its first two seasons, is fielding perhaps its most competitive roster for Top Chef 3 Miami.

It's clear from the start of tonight's premiere, when Hung, the chef most likely to be Marcel most-hated chef in Season 2, declares that he's a CPA - "Certified Public A------." Oh, and the fact that he has some certified skills. (Why do all the haughty chefs on this show seem to work in Las Vegas?)

Expect Hung to find his top rival in Tre, a rising star from Dallas who tattooed his culinary motto ("You got to have passion") on his forearm. The big-name restaurants where some of these chefs work (such as Abacus, Guy Savoy and Jean Georges) attest to the rise in talent and temerity.

So is it all a recipe for confrontation? Certainly, nothing could top last season's drama and the assault attempt on Marcel and his mane, right?

Well, one thing is sure: More candidates have a chance to reach the finals. My long-shot pick: Brooklyn, N.Y., chef Camille, whose Latin cooking could be the perfect fit for South Florida.

Bravo appears to be sparing no expense to show off the South Beach lifestyle. In moving to Miami from Los Angeles, Top Chef is putting up the contestants in the penthouse of the beachside Fontainebleau resort. Goodbye, generic lofts. And tonight's quick-fire challenge takes place in the mansion of the late fashion designer Gianni Versace. Let's hope the producers also take advantage of Florida's native ingredients beyond tonight's alligator-meat sighting.

The cast - judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and host Padma Lakshmi - will be joined at the judges' table by culinary gadfly Ted Allen (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy). As for special guests? Last season's judges featured foodie icons such as Michelle Bernstein, Eric Ripert and Anthony Bourdain. It would seem a natural for Bernstein to return since the show is in her hometown. Let's hope some other renowned Florida chefs - Norman Van Aken comes to mind - are represented.

The good news: Bourdain returns for tonight's surf and turf challenge. As Colicchio tells the contestants:

"You're going to have to pull out all the stops if you want to entertain Bourdain."

It should make for one hot summer in the kitchen.

Peter Couture can be reached at (727) 892-2938 or couture@sptimes.com.

[Last modified June 13, 2007, 08:15:27]