Top Chef Season 5 is really close at hand.  Between hurricanes, elections and daily life I am looking forward to things getting a little more light-hearted.
Season 5 is back in NYC…well, Brooklyn and I am looking forward to the personalities, challenges and attitude…not only from our cheftestants, but our judges as well.  It is funny, last season I was beginning to become bored with the whole idea, but I think because of all the seriousness surrounding the world right now I am looking forward to some plain ol’e entertainment, foodie style.
Don’t forget.  The Top Chef Season 5 premiere is Wednesday, …read more

Spike Mendelsohn, season 4 Top Chef “cheftestant”, had recently opened an eatery in the Washington DC area called the Good Stuff Eatery.  The new venture has begun to have some problems which I am sure has given Chef Spike a headache or two.
The DC Health Inspector has cited the eatery with several violations and some of them don’t sound very appetizing.  Some of the violations include allegedly storing meat in the alley, not having hand-washing facilities for employees and not correctly sanitizing prep areas and cutting boards.
Spike initially denied that the eatery was cited but then stated that the food …read more

Top Chef Season 2 winner Ilan Hall is looking at opening his own restaurant, Gorbles in downtown Los Angeles.  Hall has been spending a lot of time on the move traveling to Spain, Romania, Israel, Venezuela and England presumably eating and learning.  His father-who taught him to cook- is Scottish and his mother is Israeli, hence…Gorbles.  Gorbles is an area of Scotland his father is from.  The food he will serve he referred to as “Jewish food date-raped by bacon”.  This means matzo balls wrapped in bacon.
According to Hall he has a sous chef, general manager and the all important menu.  Just one …read more

Marcel Vigneron, Top Chef finalist from season 2, was pulled over Saturday night for speeding down the Pacific Coast Highway and driving erratically.  The cops were a tad suspicious so they administered a drug alcohol test which he failed.  The legal limit in California is .08.
Some may be surprised, some may secretly be giggling because he was so hated.  I never understood the hatred, but I am not surprised.  If you have read Kitchen Confidential you know that chefs and kitchen workers are notorious for poor judgement when it comes to drugs and alcohol.
Read more of the story on E! …read more

Sam Talbot of Top Chef fame has had a busy life since being a part of Bravo’s award winning reality competition.  Sam has now opened his own restaurant and is engaged to Colombian model and t-shirt designer, Paola Guerrero.  His restaurant is the Surf Lodge in Montauk, NY and there is no date yet for the wedding.
Read more from Talbot on love, food and surfing.

 image:  www.freeimages.co.uk
Top Chef has been a big hit for Bravo for the past four years.  I have had fun watching the cheftestants have to deal with seemingly impossible odds within a minimal amount of time.  I have often wondered what would happen when the true great chefs of the world were put to the challenge, or rather, challenges.
I guess that I am not the only one to wonder this, because Bravo has created a Top Chef spin-off, Top Chef:  Masters.  Each week master chefs will compete against each other through a series of challenges.  There doesn’t seem to be any …read more

Each season of Top Chef has brought us to varying locales.  They have been in New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Chicago.  So, where do you think they have chosen to go to this season?  Brooklyn.  Yes, Brooklyn, New York.
Here is the scoop from Allison Waldman from the TV Squad:
BROOKLYN! No, I’m not kidding. The new season of Top Chef will reportedly be set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn — hometown of Barbra Streisand. (She grew up at the corner of Newkirk and Nostrand Avenue, if you want to be precise.) Also Barbara Stanwyck, Mae West and the Brooklyn …read more

 
 image:  www.freeimages.co.uk
I love technology….I suppose that is obvious while I sit here surfing and pounding out on my computer while my kids watch DVRd shows and I listen to my iTunes.  I admit there are some inventions I think lame, but the iPhone…a device I yearn as my own…is an incredible invention with amazing possibilities.
I am impressed with marketers who come up with great technology applications, and those at Bravo and Top Chef have embraced one smart idea.
You will soon be able to access Top Chef recipes on your iPhone.  From the PR News Channel: 
Viewers will be able to browse …read more

It may seem like a strange combination, but some how Richard Blais and Garrett’s Popcorn got together to come up with a great promo idea.
July 15th, 16th and 17th Richard Blais will be at the Garrett’s Popcorn Flagship store (that is 5th Ave. in NYC) to meet fans and share his food creation, the Popcornsicle.  He combines Garrett’s CaramelCrisp and CheeseCorn into golf size balls, puts them on wooden sticks and then dips them into liquid nitrogen.
If you don’t have your own liquid nitrogen hanging around the house, go visit Blais on 5th Ave.  The Popcornsicles are free.  Wish him …read more

Any fan of Top Chef has to be thrilled to learn that a Top Chef “cheftestant” could be cooking at a town near you.  Top Chef–The Tour began in late June and continues throughout the Summer ending at the end of September.
Today Show contributor Gina Pace shared a recent experience with the Top Chef bus and Top Chefs Spike and Nikki sharing food and tips to the crowd.  Spike redeemed himself from the Farmer’s Market Challenge where he made a dish similar to dog food.  He was teased by his family when he got home and was reminded about a family …read more