Howard Dieterle opens his second restaurant and Gail dishes about the JD Finale

These are two of the dishes from Top Chef Season 1 winner Harold Dieterle's second restaurant, Kin Shop, which opened last week (apparently while it was hailing in NYC). You can find more photos and news on Kin Shop's facebook page, an interview with Harold here, and more photos of the restaurant here. Congratulations, Harold! We wish you all the best!

Meanwhile, Gail Simmons opened up to eater.com in this interview.

About TC: Just Desserts, she says this is "the most interesting cast of characters we've ever had on Top Chef. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Pastry chefs have a unique personality type — I know that they're exacting and I know that they're anal-retentive — but in the best way. And I don't want to make any generalizations, that pastry chefs are all-drama all the time, but this group was incredibly casted. While they can be dramatic and sensitive and confrontational, they're all super-talented.”

Gail also talks about how they had to get the TCJD pantry up to snuff and how the producers (she is one on TCJD) second-guessed themselves about the "no recipes" rule after Episode 1 guest judge Jacques Torres turned livid. Gail also shares a few tidbits about the upcoming All-Stars season and talks about why the Just Desserts finale will be different from the usual "cook the best meal of your life" challenges on Top Chef.