Top Chef Episode 9: The Final Three

The final three chefs who will compete in Las Vegas for the prize of Top Chef were chosen this week, and it was a real surprise that Dave is going with Tiffani and Harold instead of Lee Anne. Lee Anne has been a top player throughout the season, winning many of the challenges and receiving high praise from everyone. So it was jaw-dropping that weepy, out-of-sorts Dave got a spot in the top three, while Lee Anne and her knives were sent packing. Although Dave did poorly in the quick fire challenge of taking a common junk food and making … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 8: Betty Crocker Rocks

Lesson learned in this week’s Top Chef episode: Even top chefs use cake mix. The contestants this week were told they had to cater a wedding for 100 people, including the cake – and the wedding was 16 hours away. They also had to shop at an all-night grocery store in one hour and settle for ingredients on hand like sub-par salmon. The whole task was completely unfair, but the chefs did the best they could, especially considering they had to pull an all-nighter. The one dish there were no complaints about? The cake (except that one guest found an … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 7: Service with a Smile

This week’s Top Chef episode challenged the contenders to create a restaurant space, an original menu, and feed up to twenty people who would judge their dining experience, all in twenty-four hours. The show wasn’t the most entertaining yet – the typical players did their thing, with Stephen’s “educating” the diners to boredom while their tummies grumbled, Miguel making silly mistakes, Dave looking like he was ready to burst into tears any moment and Lee Anne and Tiffani ordering everyone around. Harold was his usual, under-the-radar, but hard working self. The teams, Dave, Harold and Tiffani on one and Stephen, … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 6: Under Pressure

Ted Allen from Bravo’s Queer Eye was the guest judge on last night’s episode of Top Chef. The contestants were obviously excited to meet him and to cook for him and his friends at a dinner party at restaurant Frisson. The chefs were also excited to finally get a chance to cook something of their choosing and really shine. They each chose a course of a multi-course meal and went to work purchasing ingredients. When all the planning and purchasing was done, the producers pulled a nasty trick to see how the chefs would do under pressure. They randomly reassigned … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 5: Street Food

Stephen was his usual cocky self again this week, and probably wondering what he had signed up for when this week’s challenge was once again anything but a four-star dining experience. But first, the quick fire challenge was almost a disaster. The chefs were given five minutes to identify, blindfolded, twenty esoteric ethnic ingredients such as tamarind, ghee and Japanese potato. The humiliated contestants all blew it. Andrea won with only four correct guesses. To soothe their bruised egos, they held a junk food “Snack Master Challenge” back at their living quarters where Miguel took the crown by correctly identifying … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 4: Ladies Who Lunch

Top Chef Episode 4: Ladies Who Lunch This week’s episode of Top Chef was an exercise in testing the chefs’ flexibility and creativity as they had to prepare, both in the quick fire challenge and the elimination challenge, a version of fast food. The quick fire challenge had the chefs at a gas station convenience store where they had a few minutes to pick out ingredients for a dish to be prepared in 30 minutes. The pickings were slim for gourmet chefs, and it was funny to watch them resorting to buying Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Spam to make their … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 3: Ewwwww!

The main challenge in this week’s episode of Top Chef was to prepare a monkfish lunch for 40 kids between 8 and 12. If you’ve ever seen a monkfish, you can understand the enormity of the challenge. It’s one ugly fish. The contestants divided into two teams and each smartly decided on kid-friendly dishes. One team made monkfish nuggets by cutting the fish in small pieces and breading it in cereal crumbs. The other team pureed the fish, added cream, shaped it into small hot dog shapes, battered and fried it to make “Monkeydogs.” On this team, Stephen, who has … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 2: Bad Taste

In my last blog about Top Chef, I complained that the show was a little bland and hoped for something a spicier. Be careful what you wish for. This week’s episode was too spicy for my taste. The main competition was for the chef contestants to come up with a sexy dessert for the clients of San Francisco’s most famous bondage and fetish shop. It was, pardon me, all in bad taste. The concept of sexy food was OK,( I mean who doesn’t find a good chocolate mousse on the sensual side) but took an ugly turn when the contestants … Continue reading →

Top Chef Episode 1: Dissing Housewives

Bravo’s new reality series Top Chef premiered last night. I was all excited to see what the contestants would dream up and maybe learn a few culinary tips. What I didn’t expect was to have steam blowing out my ears for half the show. Indulge me a little indignant rant, if you will, on behalf of housewives everywhere. When the contestants first entered their living quarters, one of them, Dubliner Ken, took a quick tour of the kitchen and pronounced it a second-rate “housewife’s kitchen.” He then turned to the oldest female contestant and said, “You should feel right at … Continue reading →

Top Chef

As a fan of all things culinary, I can’t wait for a new show that’s premiering on Bravo next Wednesday, March 8th, after the finale of Project Runway. It’s called Top Chef and is a reality-show competition, pitting twelve chefs against each other in a series of challenges. The winner, after ten one-hour episodes, will be crowned the Top Chef. I already love Project Runway on Bravo, the show that Top Chef is modeled after. It’s not your standard reality-show fare, because real talent is involved. If these chefs are as good as the designers are on Project Runway, I … Continue reading →