TVSquad

(S05E01) When I watch Project Runway, I'm reminded of the fact that I'm no fashion designer. I'd be up a tree if I faced the challenges those contestants face. The same with Top Design, not to mention any of the hair shows. However, Top Chef is a different story. I do cook and every day is a challenge to figure out what to make and how.

So, the return of Top Chef -- season five -- was like greeting an old friend. Here are people I can relate to, even if they have culinary skills that exceed mine.

The new edition is set in New York, a point that was obvious from the start with arrivals not coming via a pedestrian airport. No, here we are at Grand Central Station, a landmark. Then it's onto a ferry to Governor's Island to really get a look at the city.

Great use of the city and it looks like NYC is going to be a major factor in these challenges, starting with the first elimination challenge in which teams had to visit ethnic neighborhoods to shop for food that will reflect the culture of that part of town.

But before that, 17 contestants were pared down to 16 Top Chef candidates with a knife. The quick fire challenge was great, set in three parts which emphasized speed -- peeling 15 apples with a knife, no peeler; precision -- dicing the apples into perfect square cuts; and, finally, cooking with the apple pieces in just 20 minutes, outdoors on a single burner. When it was all said and done, Lauren was out. Chop, like a clever, she was axed from the show. Buh-bye!

It's always hard in the first episodes with so many faces to get impressions of who you like or will root for. However, the Team Euro duo -- Fabio and Stefan -- are arrogant and overconfident and easy to hate. Is it my xenophobia coming out? No, they're edited to look like jerks. Still, Stefan from Finland wins both ends of the premiere episode, so he looks like a player to be feared.

The quality of all the chefs has definitely been improving since season one and two. Guys like Mike, the cook from Friday's (or was it Bennigan's?), would never make it into the competition now. All the chefs are higher up the food chain. At one point, judge Tom comments that if this first show's food is representative of the season to come, they'll be enjoying a lot of good meals.

Chef Tom also said, quoting from the song "New York, New York," "If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere." I can't help wondering if that was a signal that Liza Minnelli is going to appear as a guest judge? The previews show Martha Stewart in an upcoming show, which would mean she was on The Next Food Network Star and Top Chef in the same year. That's a good thing, right?

By the end of the show, two CIA (Culinary Institute of America) students were tossed. That's how tough this thing has become. Ariane screwed up the faro, a grain. Patrick screwed up the black noodles. Patrick is still very young and learning and before the judges voted, I had him picked for elimination. That's exactly what happened. Ariane deserved another chance, even though she's from Montclair, New Jersey and should've known how long it takes to cook faro.

So, in the end, when Stefan won and declared he wants to be the first European Top Chef, I was thinking that he's as full of himself as some past winners and finalists -- Marcel, Hung, Tiffani -- which means he's likely to be around for the entire season. I'm also handicapping Jamie from San Francisco as someone to watch.