Hawai'i own Roy Yamaguchi is among 24 well-known chefs to compete in a new Bravo series, "Top Chef Masters," launching June 9.

The program is by the producers of the highly rated "Top Chef," which focused on culinarians in early- to mid-career, not established names like those on "Masters."
This time, the judging panel will not include the how-does-she-stay-so-thin Padma Lakshmi; that honors falls to Kelly Choi, a food journalist and host of NYC TV's "Eat Out NY." A former model (and also a skinny foodie), Choi has a new book, "The 20 Most Delicious Dishes in New York," due out soon. With her on the judging panel will be writer and food critic Gael Green (famed for using wigs and other tricks to mask her identity from restauranteurs); British food critic, writer and broadcaster (and clearly the one slated to be the "bad boy") Jay Rayner; and James Oseland, editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine (no doubt the "serious one").
Each episode will include two challenges — first a quick and sometimes wacky one — and a second more demanding elimination challenge. The judges will taste the dishes "blind" (without knowing whose they are) and employ a five-star system similar to that often used in dining reviews.
In another change from "Top Chef" norm, not all competitors will appear in each episode. The first six segments will feature four competitors each. The winners of each of these competitions will vie in the final four episodes, with eliminations in each segment. The winning chef earning $100,000 for the charity of his or her choice.
How will the soft-spoken and pleasantly poker-faced Yamaguchi to on TV? He's not allowed to talk about it for now. So "watch what happens," as they say on Bravo.
To see a video encompassing the drama and read bios of the judges and competitors, go to bravotv.com/top-chef-masters/.