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aaron <3s padma, padma can think of a thousand other places she’d rather be

i don’t watch a lot of episodic tv nor do i nerd out over a lot of shows but top chef is one of those rare exceptions; i totally love it. the premise is sound, the hosts have cred and play their parts well, the production is slick and watching chefs get treated like lab rats never gets old. a lot of this season’s appeal, as it was with earlier ones, will depend on the mix of the contestants’ personalities. season one was great because of it, season two suffered from an immature and unlikable cast but season three was markedly better in that regard.

back in november, aaron, beth & i (ok, it was 99% aaron and i) went to see padma lakshmi at a book signing in of all places, freehold nj. we stood there like awkward 13 year olds as she walked by; she is just as knee-bucklingly gorgeous in person as she is on TV. barnes and noble wanted you to buy her cookbook ($37!) before getting in line for signings and photos. i balked at the cover price and hid behind the new fiction section with beth as aaron snuck into the line with a book off the shelf, had it signed and got a picture taken with padma, AFTER being found out and having to leave the line once! that dude is awesome.

top chef season 4 premieres tonight at 10pm on bravo.