Top Chef (TV Show)

Say Hello To Pig and Khao, Prospect

The restaurant veterans behind Fatty Crew Hospitality Group have partnered with Bravo's Top Chef contestant Leah Cohen to open Pig and Khao. It's Southeast Asian cuisine and the shared plates menu will pay homage to traditional Southeast Asian fare, such as pork and rice, infused with Thai and Filip ... More >>

Under the Toque: Daniel Humm's Mercedes Benz Picnic; Danny Bowien On Losing Weight

Daniel Humm, of Eleven Madison Park, has partnered up with Mercedes Benz to create a five-course "On the Road" menu. The upscale picnic lunch was inspired by the 2013 SL Roadster. [Eater] Grub Street does a interview with Danny Bowien, who is living healthier now that he's in New York: "I did a pho ... More >>

Under the Toque: Top Chef Spin-Off, Fried Chicken Face-Off

A new Top Chef spin-off, Life After Top Chef, will follow the lives of four former Top Chef contestants: Jen Carroll, Richard Blais, Fabio Viviani, and Spike Mendelsohn. [Zagat] In case you're following the David Chang-Questlove fried-chicken battle: the Momofuku chef and Roots drummer have set a d ... More >>

Gail Simmons on How She Deals with Foods She Doesn't Like: Interview Part 2

Yesterday we spoke with Top Chef judge Gail Simmons about her new memoir, Talking With My Mouth Full: My Life as a Professional Eater. Today she tells us more about the judging process and reveals the foods she just can't stand. Do you think there's a big difference between the cheftestants on Top ... More >>

Make Angelo Sosa's Corn Dumpling Stew

Even though it's not as seasonally cold as expected, it's still cold enough for spooning up bowls of warm liquid. Whether it's one of Robert Sietsema's ramen picks, takeout egg drop soup, or Luzzo's Zuppe Bollito, Fork in the Road has pretty much solidified that January equals Soup Month. So, why no ... More >>

Nine Food TV Shows We'd Love To See

​How did food television become so boring and predictable? Umpteenth season of Top Chef? Yawn. Endless cupcake wars? Yawn. Paula Deen pouring more butter into the cake? Yawn. Guy Fieri tucking into another giant hamburger? Zzzzzzzzz. Well, the time has come to invent new types of food-themed s ... More >>

Michael Sullivan 'In' at Flex Mussels; Richard Blais Pops Up for Pork

​Flex Mussels has announced that its executive chef Michael Bicocchi has left the restaurant to be replaced by Michael Sullivan, the longtime executive sous-chef at the now-defunct Chanterelle. [Grub Street] Michael Psilakis has plans to open a restaurant on Long Island. MP Taverna will serve ... More >>

The Next Food Network Stars? Not Quite.

WikipediaThe one "real" star​Being the Next Food Network Star is kind of like being Top Chef, Minus the chef aspect. But ultimately it can be much more lucrative than winning the $100,000 on the Bravo show, since it's an opportunity to build a brand...or is it?

Hell's Kitchen Is Hot; Sandra Lee to Launch Kitchen Line

​Increased food prices have begun to affect diners directly, with restaurants like Per Se and 'wichcraft raising their menu prices. [Wall Street Journal] A group of women at Bravo were said to be bitching about the special treatment Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi gets. (This is news?) [NY Post] He ... More >>

Pork's Slogan Still Sucks. But Now They Have a Café!

​The National Pork Board didn't take our suggestions for a new slogan and is sticking with Pork: Be Inspired. And to show off their new slogan, they're creating the even more awfully awesomely named Pork Inspiration Café. Which will be run by Top Chef: All-Stars winner Richard Blais! Oh, h ... More >>

So Why Don't More Women Win Top Chef?

Mike Isabella and Richard Blaise: Top Chef finalists, and men.​Another dude has won another season of Top Chef, and that's provided another opportunity to ask why there aren't more female chefs not only in the winners' circle, but also in the upper echelons of the kitchen hierarchy.

Is Marcel's Quantum Kitchen a Modernist Cuisine for the TV?; Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Add Turkey Burgers to Menu

​The federal government is investing $60 million in three major studies on the effects of climate change on crops and forests. [BusinessWeek] Modernist Cuisine for TV? Syfy is debuting Marcel's Quantum Kitchen, a new show starring molecularly inclined Top Chef alum Marcel Vigneron. [Wired] A ... More >>

Angelo Sosa On Being Naked On Top Chef All-Stars and Having No Fear

bravotv.comAngelo Sosa, clothed.​Yesterday, we talked to Angelo Sosa about his forthcoming restaurant, Social Eatz, expected to open the first week in March. Today, he tells us a little more about how his second time around -- both as a restaurateur and Top Cheftestant. With Xie Xie, you talk ... More >>

Kin Shop--Harold Dieterle's Second Restaurant Goes Thai

Top Chef's Season One winner opens another West Village spot

Tonight, Top Chef Returns ... Again ...

They're here for your soul.​ Beginning this very evening, Bravo will drag Top Chef howling from the vaults and back onto television screens across the nation. Yes, as threatened, Season 8 will serve audiences a steaming portion of Top Chef: All Stars, pitting the ghosts of seasons past against ... More >>

Eight Reasons That Top Chef: Season 8 Looks Better Than Top Chef: Season 7

BravoGluttons for punishment.​We're still trying to reclaim our lives after the time suck that was Top Chef: Season 7, so were slightly alarmed yesterday when we received a screener for the first episode of Top Chef: All-Stars. How could it possibly be time for yet another round? Hadn't we end ... More >>

Marcus Samuelsson Delays Red Rooster Yet Again; Hung Hyunh Now with the EMM Group

​Marcus Samuelsson has delayed the opening of his much anticipated Red Rooster yet again and is now preparing for a November debut. [Eater] Franco Bario, the former chef de cuisine at Boqueria, is opening Caliu, a new Spanish tapas place slated to launch next Thursday on Hudson Street. [Craig ... More >>

Top Chef: All Stars Line-Up Announced

Weeks after everyone pretty much figured out that Top Chef's next season would feature an all-star line-up, Bravo used last night's Season 7 reunion episode to formally announce that next season will be, yes, Top Chef: All Stars. It will premiere on Dec. 1 with the following contestants:

Top Chef:Just Desserts Actually Looks...Good

Bravo​Maybe it's because we're so worn down by this season of Top Chef -- which blessedly will be put out of our misery tomorrow night -- but its spin-off, Top Chef: Just Desserts, actually looks like it might potentially, hopefully, possibly be pretty good. Maybe even good, period.

Plein Sud Plain Sucks

A Top Chef contestant bombs in his own restaurant

Top Chef: Of Weight Watchers Chicken Liver Mousse and Store-Bought Puff Pastry

Bravo​Welcome back to Top Chef. Some things appear to have stayed the same: Crocs! Rampaging egos! Bad culinary puns ("Eric Ripert joins our culinary Supreme Court," har har)! Copious hostess cleavage! Others have changed: Where once there were Glad bags, now there is Dial NutriSkin. Where onc ... More >>

Top Chef Season Seven Begins Tomorrow, and There's Now a Preview

BravoSo close, yet so far.​In a little more than 24 hours, the seventh season of Top Chef will be upon us. Eater has thoughtfully whetted our appetite for punishment with a couple of preview clips, which can be found here. Not much can be gleaned from the two brief videos, except that the con ... More >>

Top Chef: Washington, D.C. Promises Us Eric Ripert, Three New York Chefs, Bad Dreads, and an Occasional Cross-Dresser

BravoIt's called the Oral Office, Beavis.​So close, yet so far: Bravo today announced that there is but little more than a month remaining until the premiere of Top Chef: Washington, D.C., which will premiere on June 16. Season Seven already has a few things going for it, including three New Y ... More >>

Our Ten Worst Food Show Hairstyles

On this fine Friday, we turn our thoughts from food to follicles. Among the many, many reasons to watch televised cooking shows are the coiffures sported by their hosts and contestants. Top Chef wouldn't be Top Chef without its dependable supply of fauxhawks and Sapphic mullets, or, for that matter, ... More >>

Top Chef May Travel to the Nation's Capital, Maybe With Kate Winslet in Tow

​The past 24 hours have brought a flurry of Top Chef news: The Washington Post has heard from "some sources" close to the show that its seventh season (whose filming was pushed back until April to accommodate Padma's pregnancy) will be filmed in Washington, D.C. If the show does make it to our ... More >>

Top Chef's Eli Kirshtein on the Ups and Downs of Reality TV, Nemesis Robin, and Favorite Pizza in NYC

​Yesterday, former Top Cheffer and current guest chef at Solo kosher restaurant Eli Kirshtein talked about the unexpected rewards of cooking kosher. Now, in the second half of the interview, he discusses his Top Chef nemesis, Robin, and the NYC restaurants he's liked since he moved here.

Having Escaped Top Chef With His Dignity Intact, Kevin Gillespie Bows Out of the Bocuse d'Or

Chef Kev​Remember that Very Special Episode of Top Chef when Kevin Gillespie won the opportunity to compete for Team USA in the next Bocuse d'Or? Well, like so much else on Top Chef, his involvement with the competition proved illusory.

Is Tom Colicchio Closing Craftsteak?

Is it curtains for Craftsteak?​In a Forbes piece today on upcoming food trends for 2010, this little nugget was dropped: "There are rumors that restaurateur and Top Chef judge Tom Colicchio will shutter his New York City steakhouse soon, but will reopen the place as another high-end spot."

Tom Colicchio Offers Some Clues to Where Top Chef May Travel Next

​ Now that it's gotten the pasties and blackjack out of its system, where might Top Chef travel for Season Seven? Tom Colicchio gave the Wall Street Journal a couple of clues.

People Runs Top Chef Spoiler; Gawker Says It Won't Reveal, But Kinda Does Anyway

Apparently, page 134 of People magazine's current issue, on newsstands now, shows a picture of the Top Chef winner, identified as such, with Padma and Tom. Bravo actually gave the magazine the photo, so the screw-up may have happened because someone at the network didn't understand that magazines ar ... More >>

Bravo Confirms in a Backhand Sort of Way that Top Cheftestants Are Chosen Partly for their Tattoos

​ What is that tatt on the left--the love child of Alfred Hitchcock and a bulldog? Thanks to Eater for pointing out a slide show on Bravo's Top Chef website. It features an astonishing 57 pictures of the tattoos of Season 6 contestants, inadvertently demonstrating that, in a desperate attempt ... More >>

Our 10 Best: Reasons to Hate 'Top Chef'

​ ​Here's why we thought this was going to be the Season of the Beard, and that excessive tattoos would be banished forever. Were we ever wrong! Yes, we watch Top Chef obsessively. We can't help it. But we hate ourselves the next morning, and here are the reasons why, in reverse order. ... More >>

Posts of the Week

As we sweat into the weekend, here's a look back at the best posts of the past week:Our Ten Best Indian Restaurants A gravestone merchant on Graham Avenue also sells excellent bread from Il Fornaretto Bakery.Frank Bruni talked about his new book, Born Round.  We re-capped the premiere episode o ... More >>

'Top Chef: Las Vegas' Premieres in Less Than Eight Hours

Bravo​When Top Chef: Las Vegas kicks off tonight at 9 p.m., expect an abundance of tattoos and clams, a smattering of bleeped-out obscenities, and a trickle of blood. And, because this is Vegas, there will also be poker chips, a pack of showgirls who seemingly got lost on the way to Joe Eszter ... More >>

Lakshmi to Remain on 'Top Chef'

​TV Guide brings news that Padma Lakshmi will not be leaving Top Chef after all. Last week, Variety reported that Lakshmi had signed on to do her own cooking-themed sitcom, tentatively titled Single Serving. But Lakshmi told TV Guide that while she "will have a recurring role in [the show]...I ... More >>

Ozersky Kibitzes with Gail Simmons about Toby Young

Over at The Feedbag, Josh Ozersky posted this video of Gail Simmons defending Toby Young. It's somewhat inexplicable that the camera is rolling at dinner and that Jeffrey Steingarten is also at the table--an outtake from some special segment of Top Chef Masters? But in any case, it's interesting t ... More >>

Top Chef Master Makes Pasta in the Bathroom

There's only so much Top Chef Masters could have offered. The chefs are all already established so the drama of a career hanging in the balance doesn't exist. The critics, all from the print world, seem a little too awed by seeing their celebrity chef subjects in person to judge them harshly enough. ... More >>

The Blogroll Gazette--Serious Eats Touts Gay Ice Cream; Eat Me Daily Likes a Sushi Dress

This week in food blogs... Midtown Lunch reported on how its NY Times profile drove Midtowners to its favorite food carts, such as the famous Halal Cart on the corner of 53rd and 6th Ave. Eat Me Daily was quite taken with Katy Perry's sushi dress designed by Phillipe and David Blond (aka The Blond ... More >>

Quick Hits

"I met Carla from Bravo's Top Chef -- I was rooting for her the whole season long." Twitpic by drschefcick. Paul McCartney will play Citi Field, which makes sense, since neither he nor the Mets have been any good since the 1980s. The "Bike in Style" Challenge had FIT students "create stylish, p ... More >>

News Roundup: Paul McCartney, Live Nation, James Murphy, Hold Steady

--Paul McCartney hasn't performed much lately, favoring one-off gigs instead of touring. (In April, he performed a Beatles-heavy set at Coachella). But New York fans will get a chance to see the Wings legend (kidding) when he performs July 17 and 18 at Citi Field, the Mets' new home. McCartney has ... More >>

Top Chef -- Local Boulder Boy Makes Good

This week, the Cafe Society blog of our sister publication Denver Westword features a revealing interview with Top Chef upset victor Hosea Rosenberg, who was actually a successful chef at Jax Fish House in Boulder before joining the Top Chef competition. Jockeying with the likes o ... More >>

Top Chefs Cook Up Page Six Passion

Top Chef winner Hosea Rosenberg and fellow cheftestant Leah Cohen make it in Page Six for allegedly "passionately making out" in a West Village bar. As if the finale wasn't bad enough.[NY Post]A Harvard study comparing four different types of diets--high carb, high fat, low fat, and high protein--fo ... More >>

Last Meal: Padma's Place is in Her Kitchen

More Top Chef Mania: Casey Speaks!

Padma Lakshmi's Last Meal

Currying favor

Top Chef: We Love the 90s!

Little Dieterle

The skinny on the first Top Chef restaurant

Last Meal: Tom Colicchio Loves Spatchcock

Cat Fight: Katie Lee vs. Padma

Top Chef: Who are these people?