Top Chef starts up again this week with a new mean face at the judge's table: Toby Young. The British author (How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) has also been a judge on Hell's Kitchen. In an interview with Metromix today, Young makes the obligatory awestruck comment about Padma's beauty — "It's as though she's accompanied by her own lighting system" — and lists his favorite New York restaurants. His picks are a little odd, but we'll give him a pass since he doesn't live here anymore. Of the aging Raoul's, Young says it has "the louche, slightly decadent atmosphere that’s guaranteed to get a girl in the mood." Finally, he calls Indochine the most overrated restaurant in the city. Indochine still rates?

Meet Toby Young [Metromix]