Top Chef on Bravo. they compete to win money to put towards a resturant. Every episode consists of a "quick fire challenge" where they only have a half our or so to cook something based on the rules they are given. Some times the rule might be they have to use a certain ingrediant. Then there are the elimination challenges where they are put onto teams and given a requirment. these are usually big requirments like cook something for a wedding for 500 people. Sometimes in the elimination challenges they have to corrspond their dish with something.