Top Chef (Romanian TV series)  Top Chef is a Romanian reality competition show on the cable television network Antena 1, that first aired in 2012, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants eliminated in each episode. The show is hosted by . The judges are , and . Generally, each episode of "Top Chef", other than the finale has had two challenges. The first is called the Quickfire challenge. Each chef must cook a dish that meets certain requirements (for example, using specific ingredients or to inspire a certain taste) or participate in a culinary-related challenge (for example, a mise en place relay or a taste test). They are usually given an hour or less to complete these tasks. A guest judge selects one or more chefs as the best in the challenge. Early in the season the winning chef(s) are granted immunity from the episode's Elimination Challenge. As the number of contestants dwindle immunity is withdrawn, and instead the winner receives an advantage (such as being team leader for a team challenge) or a prize. To emphasise the culture and environment of the sixth season's Las Vegas setting, the show introduced "high-stakes" Quickfires, which featured an extravagant prize (usually a large cash prize). High-stakes Quickfires would continue onward in further seasons. Occasionally, a Quickfire will also include the poorest performer being eliminated from the competition. Sometimes contestants have been dismissed for violations such as tasting a sauce with a finger. In the Elimination challenge, the chefs prepare one or more dishes to meet the challenge requirements, which are usually more complex and require longer time to execute than a Quickfire challenge. Elimination challenges may be individual challenges or may require chefs to work in a team, and may require a chef or chefs to produce several courses. Teams may be selected by the remaining contestants among themselves, but more often are selected by the random process such as by "drawing knives" from a butcher's block, with the team identification revealed on the blade of the knife. The chefs may have from a few hours to a few days to complete this challenge, which typically includes preparation and planning time. Ingredients for Elimination challenges generally allow chefs to access both what staples are available in the "Top Chef" pantry and what they chefs purchase at a grocery store, within a specified budget. However, certain challenges may provide specific ingredients or limit the type or number of ingredients that can be used, while others require non-traditional methods of obtaining ingredients (such as asking people door-to-door) or preparation methods (such as tailgate cooking).