I'm going to disagree with the other reviewer who said that Kimball kowtows and panders to the younger chefs. Personally, I find him more condescending and disdainful than ever. If anything, the younger chefs try to appease him. Sometimes, they even seem intimidated by him. Probably because he signs the checks, is notoriously unpleasant to work with, and capable of destroying careers.
He is also now completely devoid of emotion and humor. In ATK, he could frequently be funny and clever, Even though his personality was at times grating, and he often came off sounding like a jerk.
Now, he is so humorless and joyless that you can't tell whether he likes or hates anything he sticks in his face, especially since there are many foods that he admittedly hates. So, it's now like he doesn't enjoy food, he analyzes it.
I do love that the show features all kinds of little-known ethnic cuisine, the fascinating people making it, and unusual pairing of ingredients, but I don't like that most recipes use ingredients which are impossible to get --some even require international shipping. That wouldn't be an issue if they mentioned substitutions, but they don't. Similarly, they also don't tell you ingredient quantities, so you're forced to either guess or pay. At least ATK/CC gives you that much.
Another problem is the show is exceedingly sterile. These may be great chefs, but their on-screen personalities are about as interesting as a sack of flour. There's no excitement, humor, joy, and love of food. It's like a cooking lab where the instructor would rather be somewhere else. And since some of these chefs show lots of personality in other media, "someone" has clearly told them to be understated.
Without Kimball and those annoyances, the show would be much better. And since I realize this review may come off as Kimball-bashing, One nice thing I'll say about him: he sure can play a mean banjo. Although I highly doubt we'll see that on this show.