TC News and Information 8.7.11 - Happy Anniversary to the Magical Elves!

Variety spotlights the production company behind Top Chef as the Magical Elves turn 10! Take a trip down memory lane here. And read more about upcoming Top Chef Season 9 here, where a Bravo exec discloses “We started things a little differently with more chefs. A big challenge for us after ‘All Stars’ is to make everything seem big again and I think we've succeeded. The challenges are inventive, there are a lot of special guests and there will be a traveling element, which is new.”

Meanwhile, Top Chef Masters has been renewed for a 4th season and the Elves are casting a new Bravo series, ‘Around the World in Eighty Plates,’ which “will follow up-and-coming chefs as they travel to various cities around the world to compete in culinary challenges. Contestants will have to learn the local cuisine, culture and customs so that they can best reinvent the menu at world-renowned restaurants,” according to TV Guide.

In other news, check out this New York Times item about head judge Tom Colicchio’s “secret farm” next his new Riverpark restaurant. (Take that, Elia.)

Top Chef Masters judge/former Gourmet editor/food memoirist Ruth Reichl is penning a new novel “set in World War II and the present.” It may involve food.

TC Season 2 and All-Stars contestant Marcel Vigneron is doing low-tech street tacos for The Gap.

We hear Season 6 finalist and Fan Favorite Kevin Gillespie won the Celebrity Chef Cookoff at this weekend’s Gig Harbor Wine and Food Festival in Washington State. Don’t miss this great video interview with the Bearded One filmed prior to the event. Turns out this Atlanta boy used to cook in the Pacific Northwest.

TC All-Star Dale Levitski and the team from his Chicago restaurant Sprout (which includes his Season 3 co-contestant and bff Sara Nguyen) were invited to cook at the James Beard House in NYC. Don’t miss the photos of their feast from Feast.

Season 3’s Camille Becerra’s newest gig is as a culinary producer of “pop-up” dinners in Manhattan. The Daily Meal explains.

Season 4’s Nikki Cascone is in on the culinary producer action as well, with “Southampton Supper Under the Stars” August 27, where she’ll be joined by TC contestants Manuel Trevino and Angelo Sosa, and a Bravo Housewife (or three?).

And reaching into the “way-back machine,” we’re glad to see Cynthia Sestito (who elected to leave at the beginning of the first Season of Top Chef due to her father’s illness) is out and about and picnicking with panache. Check out these photos from a recent Grey Goose event in the Hamptons.

Only two weeks and change until Top Chef returns to Wednesday nights, with Season 2 of Top Chef: Just Desserts! I’m especially excited because one of the contestants, Megan Ketover, is from my city (Cincinnati) and I have Downtown Restaurant Week reservations to taste her food! Anyone else have a hometown contestant to root for?

Posted on AllTopChef.com

TC News and Information 1.17.11

At this weekend's Tasty Awards, Top Chef won for Best Food Program, and TC judge Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations was named Best Food Travel Series. All-Star Fabio Viviani, Season 1's Candice Kumai, and frequent TC guest judge Hubert Keller were in attendance. For more info and a slideshow of the event, click here.

Congratulations to D.C.’s new Secretary of Love and Relationships, Carla Hall! Following in the footsteps of Dr. Ruth, Carla’s involvement is part of a February promotion billed as a "28-Day Stimulus Plan for Love & Relationships," designed to "boost business for hotels, restaurants and attractions with date night deals and discounts while encouraging locals and visitors to rekindle their romances in the nation's capital,” according to this. You can find video of Carla's swearing-in ceremony uploaded by her husband here, and a shorter version here.

Last week's All-Stars winner, Dale Talde, is also feelin' the love, in his blog post dedicated to his fisherman dad and the fish he caught for the episode, which he named Diesel.

Meanwhile, Jamie Lauren has done some complaining in her post-exit interviews about the edit she got (here, here, and here), and in this interview, Marcel Vigneron sounds off about the edit he's been getting.

If you saw Eric Ripert's Bravo video blog about last week's episode, you know he offered Jamie a stage at his restaurant at Le Bernadin. Well, it appears she said yes. She tweeted: "@ericripert I would love to take you up on that amazing offer, from an amazing chef, at an amazing restaurant..let's do it!" And followed up with: "ps: any chance you can you throw in 1st class airfare and a room at the plaza?

The Herald Sun reports that Curtis Stone will make $1 million per season as newly named host of Top Chef Masters.

In this interview, Season 3's Howie Kleinberg talks about the new Bulldog Burger he plans to open next to his current restaurant, Bulldog BBQ. About the venture he says, "I originally started crafting the menu for it as part of a contest for a reality show, but the more I worked with it, I wanted to open the restaurant." Hmmm, wonder if that reality show would be America's Next Great Restaurant, on which Curtis Stone will appear as a judge.

Season 3's Camille Becerra was apparently just hours from opening her new restaurant, APL, when she backed out, according to this item.

Meanwhile, Season 4 winner Stephanie Izard will participate in Chicago's Couchon 555 March 20, according to this piece, which says she'll be one of the competitors breaking down and preparing a 150-175 pound heritage breed hog. The winner will go on to compete against Couchon 555 winners from other cities June 19 at the Aspen Food and Wine Festival.

Stephanie will also be competing January 28 at the Beaver Creek Master Chef Classic sponsored by Bon Appetit, where she'll have 20 minutes to create a dish based on a surprise ingredient.

Season 6's Eli Kirshtein will appear at the St. Louis Food & Wine Experience January 28-30.

Finally, judge Tom Colicchio participated in the $250-a-plate headline event of the Food & Wine magazine-sponsored Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival, and this attendee calls him out for serving food ill-suited to the beach. The LA Times gives Colicchio slightly better marks after recent trips to three of his NYC restaurants in anticipation of Restaurant Wars.

Kitchen Showdown with Camille Becerra

KITCHEN SHOWDOWN: CHEESE
Presented by Hot Pot Culinary Events and Hudson Terrace
Sponsored by Cabot
August 23rd, 2010

Think you're the top chef in this town? Can you throwdown dishes with the best of them? Does chicken stock run through your veins? Then prove it!

Join us at Hudson Terrace for an interactive cooking competition where you are the chef! Join a team and slice, dice, and saute your way through a fast-paced preparation of a dish starring a Featured Ingredient. Then stand behind your dish as a panel of judges and spectators taste each entry to determine which team reigns supreme.

Chef Instructors from Hot Pot Culinary Events will help guide you along as you prep, cook, and plate your dishes.

Teams will get 75 minutes to plan, prepare, and cook a dish for the judges and spectators. Chef Instructors from Hot Pot Culinary Events will provide helpful tips and tricks as you work together to beat the clock and the competition. One team will take the crown as Kitchen Showdown Champion and win fantastic prizes!

Participants: Join as an Individual and get matched up with a team or join as a group and save $50! 6pm to 9pm.

Spectators: Enjoy a one-hour open bar from 7pm to 8pm, then watch the action unfold, and sample all the dishes!

hudsonterrace.ticketleap.com


Hudson Terrace
621 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
http://www.hudsonterracenyc.com

TC News & Information

Kelly Choi dishes on Top Chef Masters to Pacific Citizen.

Top Chef 3's Camille Becerra will be participating in a pop-up restaurant in NoLIta through May 16th. More info can be found here.

There's some spoiler-y information about the upcoming Top Chef 7 on the Top Chef Wikipedia page. Check it out, keeping in mind that Wikipedia is hardly an authoritative source.

Here's 5 Questions with season 6's Eli Kirshtein.

Parade Magazine has an interview with Graham Elliot Bowles.