Top Chef (TV Show)

Under Review: Sietsema is in Spicy Heaven at Sweet Yummy House; Rao Devours "Fresh-Killed" Chicken at Hanjan

For our own Robert Sietsema, hearing the name Sweet Yummy House "conjured up gingerbread dwellings deep in the woods made by witches." In reality, the Elmhurst restaurant is one of the city's newest Sichuan restaurants, specializing in "delicious peculiarities resulting from fusion with other cuisin ... More >>

Marilyn Hagerty Guest Judged Top Chef, Didn't Know it Aired

Remember Marilyn Hagerty? She wrote that lovely restaurant review of the Olive Garden in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The article went viral, even though she recently admitted that she didn't know what viral meant. The small town food writer was a guest judge on Wednesday's episode of Top Chef , but ... More >>

What's Happening: Latke Festival and Cheese Ball

Monday, December 10 Fourth Annual Latke Festival Celebrate Hanukkah at BAM with 17 restaurants including Fatty 'Cue and Veselka, as they fry up some of the best latkes in the city. Tickets are $55 and include drinks. 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn

Top Chef's Leah Cohen Brings Pinoy Comfort to Clinton Street

A house party with pig's head

Under the Toque: Andy Ricker on East-West Fusion, Anthony Bourdain Joins CNN

Andy Ricker talks to the Times on how his foreignness helps him learn traditional recipes from Thai chefs: "On one level, that means they may have an easier time with the language -- telling the story of their food, or knowing how to make obscure dishes sound sexy in menu descriptions." [NYTimes] S ... More >>

Under the Toque: Guy Fieri in NYC, Todd English Sued

According to The New York Times, Guy Fieri will be opening a restaurant in Times Square. Fieri has seven restaurants already in California but the New York concept will be completely different. It's slated to be called Guy's American Kitchen and Bar. [New York Times] Le Bernardin will be hosting a ... More >>

What's Angelo Sosa Up To at Anejo Tequileria?

The best dish we tried was the scrumptious beef taquitos. Angelo Sosa - the season seven Top Chef contestant who ended up in second place - opened Anejo Tequileria in Hell's Kitchen as chef and partner this past January, focusing on aged tequilas and similar Mexican fermented products. Fork in the ... More >>

Tom Colicchio Offers Words of Warning to Future Chefs

In this video for the Discovery Channel, Tom Colicchio emphasizes that chef "means boss. That's all it means," and that, while being a chef is now a respected profession, becoming one doesn't automatically mean you're going to be on TV.

Sucklord Gets Kicked Off Work of Art, Releases Self-Mocking Jerk of Art Action Figure

Last night, the gallery world's Top Chef eliminated our man Sucklord, the Chinatown-based bootleg toymaker we splashed on the Village Voice cover in September. Throughout the course of the first six episodes, the Sucklord was the reality competition's clear breakout personality: the Sucklord got the ... More >>

Michael Laiskonis 'Out' at Le Bernardin; Ed Cotton 'Out' at Plein Sud

​Le Bernardin's pastry chef, Michael Laiskonis, is leaving the restaurant after eight years on the job to pursue other projects and "reach a wider audience." [Diner's Journal] Eric Smith, a former five-star chef in New York, is now broke and serving food for Occupy Wall Street. [Grub Street] ... More >>

Sucklord on Art Critics: "If the Jerry Saltzes of the World Don't Like My Work, I Don't Give a Shit"

Dustin Fenstermacher"Who the hell is this guy? Get him out of here." The second season of Bravo's Work of Art: The Search for the Next Great Artist, the gallery world's Top Chef, premieres tonight at 9pm. Completely randomly, the 14-person cast stars two recent Village Voice cover-story subjects: ... More >>

Dog or Girl? Padma Lakshmi Stars in Eels Video

Padma Lakshmi has enjoyed one of the more unusual food-themed careers, ascending from a couple of lackluster shows on the Food Network and a rather mediocre cookbook to being the doyenne of Top Chef - and the hatchet-woman, too, whose icy words and placid demeanor often spell disaster for the cont ... More >>

The 'Stephen Aspirinio Brand' Wins Over CB1, Fails to Impress Florida

stephenasprinio.comThis man wants you to swallow his dough.​In June, former Top Chef repeat offender Stephen Aspirinio announced his plans to open Pizza Vino Teca, a pizzeria in the Financial District. Thanks to the whims of CB1, he's now one step closer to his goal.

Mark Simmons Got His Start in a Slaughterhouse, Then Faked It 'Til He Made It

​Yesterday, we chatted with Mark Simmons about Kiwiana, the restaurant he opened in Park Slope earlier this week. As Kiwiana's name suggests, Simmons' stated mission is to introduce New York to the ingredients of New Zealand, his homeland. Today, in the second half of our interview, Simmons di ... More >>

Ron Suhanosky 'Out' at Stuzzicheria; Marcellus Coleman 'In' at Alias

​Ex-Sfoglia chef Ron Suhanosky has left Stuzzicheria after just four months, due to creative differences with owner Gerard Renny. Paul Di Bari, who worked at sister restaurant Stuzzi has taken over. [Grub Street] James Kent, who competed a in Bocuse d'Or this year, has been promoted to chef d ... More >>

Untitled Chef Chris Bradley Reveals His Favorite Art Movements and Dishes on Hazing Ilan Hall Back in the Day

Nicole FranzenDon't be locker mates with Chef Chris Bradley, unless you want frozen clothes​Museum dining has thankfully come a long way from the tuna fish sandwiches of yore. One of the latest restaurant additions to the city's art scene is Danny Meyer's Untitled, located in the Whitney Muse ... More >>

Cesare Casella Wants to Take You to Italy; Alex Garcia Now Cooking at Copacabana Supper Club

​Todd English reveals how he feels about a not-quite-burgeoning music career: "I did a couple gigs, that was it. ... I certainly won't give up my day job for that ... nor should I because I don't think I'd go that far." [Zagat Buzz] London import Le Caprice has hired Ed Carew to helm the kitc ... More >>

Frito-Lay Tops Food Truck Promos with Times Square Test Kitchen

Lay's launches a test kitchen in a marquee, naturally.​Frito-Lay is going one better than the seemingly endless list of companies using food trucks to promote their brands. Instead of driving around town spreading the word on snacks like Lay's, SunChips, and Tostitos, it's parking itself right ... More >>

Top Chef: 'We Just Gotta Keep Evolving Our Food'

Evolving.​Are we there yet? Alas, no, we are not. There's still one last hurrah for this season of Top Chef, but now that we've suffered through the sight of Mike Isabella diving topless for conch, it should be all downhill from here.

Slashfood Readers Aroused by Fictional Hermaphrodites

Hot.​Those who can't wait to wallow in the shallow waters of Eater's Hottest Chef competition can dip their toes in the equally murky waters of Slashfood's second-annual roundup of the 10 Hottest Men in the Food Industry.

Xie Xie is Shuttered

Photo courtesy of Xie XieWither the fish cha ca la vong?​Given how much attention Top Chef forced us to pay to Angelo Sosa, we're shocked - shocked! - to realize that we missed the news, buried in Florence Fabricant's Off the Menu column yesterday, that Xie Xie has closed. Per Fabricant, Sosa' ... More >>

Harold Dieterle Observes That Some Top Chef Contestants Are TV Whores

BravoDieterle dishes it out.​Harold Dieterle took some time recently to speak with Zagat Buzz about Kin Shop, the Thai restaurant he opened on Monday. And while what he has to say about straying from the traditional "pick your dish, then pick your protein" model is interesting enough, what's m ... More >>

The Cream Puff of Food Docs, Kings of Pastry

Manuel Treviño 'in' at Lavo; Angelo Sosa Awaits Russian Bride

​Eric Hara makes room in his busy schedule to helm the kitchen at Agua Dulce in Hell's Kitchen, replacing Ulrich Sterling, who is leaving for a job in Peru. [Eater] Top Chef alum Manuel Treviño will be the chef at the forthcoming Lavo. He hails from Travertine, via Babbo and Dos Caminos. [Gr ... More >>

Next on The Next Iron Chef: New York's Marco Canora, Marc Forgione, and Maneet Chauhan

​Given that this season of Top Chef has thus far been a plodding disappointment, it comes as a relief that the Food Network has given us something else to look forward to with today's big reveal of who will be competing on Season 3 of The Next Iron Chef.

Harold Dieterle to Open Contemporary Thai Eatery in West Village this Fall

Bravotv.comA little something up his contempo Bangkok sleeve....​ Annnd we were right: Former Top Chef winner and Perilla co-owner Harold Dieterle is indeed opening a restaurant in the former Philippe Chow Express space. The Times reports it will be serving "contemporary Thai fare in a casual ... More >>

The Great Popsicle Showdown; The Truth Behind the Chick-fil-A Giveaway

This week in food blogs... Eater rounded up its 38 most essential Brooklyn places, spaces, and destinations, including the Brooklyn Flea and Coney Island boardwalk. Grub Street spent the week with Scott Conant of Scarpetta and Faustina and found out the chef was worried about his weight. Feast le ... More >>

The Guggenheim to Get a Food Cart; Pringles Go Multigrain

​Mississippi is the most obese state in the country for the sixth year in a row, according to the seventh annual "F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future" report. New York tied for 36th place with Florida and Idaho. [NY Daily News] The Guggenheim Museum is seeking permission from ... More >>

Top Chef's Premiere Suffers From Half-Cooked Ratings

Who's looking smug now?​There may be plenty of discreet charm to be found in Washington, D.C., but discretion does not a ratings juggernaut make. That's a lesson that Bravo executives are probably mulling over in the wake of Wednesday's Top Chef premiere, which The Washington Post reports pull ... More >>

According to Tom Colicchio, Top Chef Will Start Filming in Our Nation's Capitol Today

​Last night, Tom Colicchio tweeted that Season 7 of Top Chef will start filming in Washington, D.C., today. A commenter on the the D.C. blog Metrocurean claims to have been seated next to the chef on the Acela from D.C. to New York last night, and that "Tom...was on twitter all ride long," pro ... More >>

This Week, in the Voice: The 10 Worst Landlords in NYC

​Still trying to wrangle your landlord to get your door to stop squeaking? You ain't seen shit. As long as they didn't make Elizabeth Dwoskin's beautifully terrifying work on this year's list of New York's Worst Landlords, you might end up wanting to hug your own building's capo. And if they a ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: Blue Cheeses & Portraits from the Bar

Our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! The The Joy of Cheese: Classic Blues and Beers To Match d.b.a. Brooklyn January 12 What better way to cure those winter blues than with blue cheese? The first Joy of Cheese event of ... More >>

What's Happening This Week: Food World Celebrities Talk Shop; Fox Holds Auditions for New Gordon Ramsay Show

Our weekly dining and drinking newsletter features all the coolest epicurean events in the city. Sign up for it here! Word of Mouth: Online Media and The Future of Food Writing Housing Works Used Bookstore Cafe January 7 Housing Works is known for its intimate concerts and eclectic selection of use ... More >>

Pepsi Shuns Super Bowl XLIV; Padma Lakshmi Among People's 'Most Intriguing'

​Only 91 contaminants of the 60,000 chemicals used in the U.S. are regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act, which means that a number communities' drinking water may be legal, but laced with cancer-causing agents. [NY Times] The White House vegetable garden has been planted for the winter wi ... More >>

Under the Toque: Tom Block In at Allen & Delancey; Fabien Beaufour Out at Eleven Madison Park

​Petrous Maldovin, the head chef at the Russian Tea Room is being sued by his sous chef, Eric Martelle, and line cooks, Ian Payette and Sean Hannigan, for harassment. The three men claim Maldovin regularly grabbed their crotches, pinched their nipples, smacked them with pans, and boasted of sl ... More >>

Top Chef's Eli Kirshtein Coming to New York in January to Cook at Kosher Steakhouse

​It looks as though Top Chef's Eli Kirshtein is finally making his parents empty nesters: according to an interview he gave to Omnivore Atlanta, the Season Six casualty will be moving here to do a guest-chef stint at Solo, the kosher steakhouse in the Sony building in Midtown.

Michael Voltaggio Gets Molecular on The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien

The winner of season six of Top Chef, Michael Voltaggio, not only just launched his own website with is brother, but also was invited to yuk it up with Conan last night.

Top Chef Will Get the Hell out of Vegas for Its Finale

​Members of the Top Chef cast were recently spotted swanning around Napa, prompting rumors that the show's producers were shooting its finale in California's wine country. Now, Bravo has confirmed that the final episode will indeed take place there. So what happens in Vegas will happen in Napa ... More >>

'Top Chef': Consider the Spot Prawn

Bravo​After a week's hiatus, Top Chef was back in all its lurid glory, injecting viewers with its characteristic dose of pre-fabricated drama, grown-up babies with sleeve tattoos, and ill-prepared seafood. Last night's episode also gave us what was possibly Padma's worst choice of apparel yet ... More >>

'Top Chef''s Ashley Collaborating With Alex Guarnaschelli on New Restaurant

Bravo​In an exit interview with the blog Endless Simmer, last night's Top Chef ejectee, Ashley Merriman, passed along this nugget for us to chew on: "I just moved from Seattle to New York. I'm transitioning out of being the executive chef at Branzino in Seattle. For the next couple of months ... More >>

'Top Chef: Las Vegas': "It's Like a Vegan Bar's Midnight Special"

Bravo​At the Eater Top Chef panel last month, the show's culinary consultant, Lee Anne Wong, promised the audience that this season would "blow smoke out of your ears." While our ears remain uncharred, last night's episode certainly provided kindling for what could (hopefully) turn out to be a ... More >>

Let the (Top Chef: Las Vegas) Games Begin

Bravo​The sixth season of Top Chef begins next Wednesday, August 19, and Grub Street gets things rolling with an interview with the show's lone New York contestant. Ash Fulk, a cook at Trestle on Tenth, dishes about trying to be a locavore in Las Vegas, how cooking on the show is harder than i ... More >>

Fallon & Colicchio Face Off on "Late Night"

Jimmy Fallon had Top Chef judge and Craft mogul Tom Colicchio on Late Night last night for a panini cook-off. Apparently, Fallon hates gherkins, eggs, and mayo, but the finicky eater did find it acceptable -- or maybe just funny -- to put peanut butter, bananas, marshmallow fluff, and potato chips ... More >>

A Gay Bravo Show About Tops?

Remember Greg Scarnici, the white guy who did the hilarious Aretha Franklin homage which I posted on this blog after the inauguration? No? Well, now he's done a parody of Top Chef as if it were a gay Bravo show called Top Top!

Padma Lakshmi to Leave 'Top Chef'

BravoOut of the frying pan, into the fire: Variety is reporting that Padma Lakshmi will be leaving Top Chef after its sixth season for her own sitcom on NBC. The show will reportedly "star Lakshmi as a woman working in the culinary world," and is tentatively titled--lord have mercy--Single Serving.D ... More >>

Top Sous Chef?

Last Meal: Ilan Hall

Ilan and Marcel Speak

Remote Patrol