VIDEO: James Oseland Dishes On 'Top Chef Masters'

The Daily Meal's video producer, Ali Rosen, caught up with Top Chef Masters judge and editor-in-chief of Saveur, James Oseland, about the new season of the show.

The biggest twist in the fourth season of the show, which premiered July 25, is that it was filmed in Las Vegas, instead of Los Angeles like the previous three seasons. "You know, when I first heard that I was maybe a little bit skeptical, but it just turned out to be a beautiful, fantastic experience for all of us," says Oseland. With regards to the reasons why Las Vegas turned out to be such a prime shooting location for the show, he explains, "I think it was so great because we were so concentrated there — in Los Angeles it's easy to get distracted by the rest of your life, but in Las Vegas we were really focused on making the show, and we bonded collectively."

Certainly, a competition-based show like Top Chef Masters changes in nature from season to season based on the contestants. "It's a really, really fabulous lineup of chefs, and I have to say (not in any way to disparage any of the chefs from previous seasons), but the food these folks cooked on this season was hands-down the best that I had eaten, even out of the starting gate from the first episode," said Oseland.

Now that the show has been on for a few seasons, it seems as though more and more "master" chefs are stepping up to the plate and agreeing to compete. "I think there's always this thing like, 'well if she did it, then I can go ahead and do it too,'" says Oseland. "But I think what I love the very most about this show is that, yes, it's a cooking show, but at its heart, what it's really about is a celebration of professionalism and of excellence."