TC News and Info 5.2.11

Tre Wilcox's new restaurant, Marquee Grill, has opened in Dallas. Feast has a video interview with the chef here.

Robin Leventhal's newest venture, Shopsky's Delicatessen, is slated to open on Mercer Island in May. She talks to the Seattle Times about the eclectic "modern Jewish deli with a Pacific Northwest twist" here. Snake River wagyu pastrami, anyone? How about salmon cured in local gin?

Dave Martin is contributing the menu to NYC's first French fry truck, The Frying Dutchman. Eater has a sneak peek at the fries and sauces, including a cinnamon apple maple butter (for the sweet potato fries), a gorgonzola cream cut with buffalo sauce, and a sour cream, applewood smoked-bacon and cheddar cheese sauce.

And Preeti Mistry demos Indian Street Food from her current venture, Juhu Beach Club, for Thrillist in this video.

Marking the first anniversary of his restaurant, Plein Sud, Ed Cotton talks to Zagat about how the menu has evolved and other lessons along the way.

Hugh Acheson did this interview prior to his weekend appearance at the Good Food Block Party in Athens, Georgia, talking about his charity, Wholesome Wave, and saying this about competing on TC Masters: "Best thing is the camaraderie. The only downside is that it is mildly exhausting."

Eric Ripert offers some interesting food and music pairings to Maxim, and reels off an intriguing list of musicians he'd invite if he could have anyone to dinner, including: "Definitely Prince! I would also invite Maria Callas and Amy Winehouse. I think those two would be a really good combination." Ripert also tells WWD he would never compete on TC Masters.

The May issue of Esquire has an Tom Colicchio (done prior to the birth of his new son).

The Martha Stewart Radio show also has some audio clips of Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Harold Dieterle about Top Chef.

And here's a piece about the Top Chef Tour's stop in Biloxi, where Eli Kirshtein and Tiffany Derry went head to head.

Finally, don't miss Top Chef: The Musical from Grub Street! The Top Chef-ers who would be willing to participate - or not - are a hoot.


Posted on AllTopChef.com

TC News and Information 3.28.11

Did you feel punk'd, er Puck'd, by the ultimate decision to boot Antonio Lofaso on last week's show? TV Guide reports: "After chatting with head judge Tom Colicchio during a break in filming, Puck changed his mind, and Antonia was sent packing by a 4-3 judges margin. Colicchio swore he hadn't influenced Puck's decision, but joked, "I smell scandal!" Fellow judge Gail Simmons laughingly declared it "Bahamas-gate." In the end, producers decided to leave the switcheroo out of the episode "because the discussion happened off-camera," exec producer Dan Cutforth explained. "So there was no real way to do that in the format of the show." "People are going to get pissed off about everything," Colicchio says."

I can't say I'm a happier camper after reading Gail Simmons' blog on EW this week, where she says: "The whole Quickfire was absurd. We knew it was absurd. We just kept piling it on to see how they’d react . . . They all delivered edible food . . ." Yeah, "edible" food - just what we look forward to leading up to a finale.

OK, so this Wednesday is (at last) the actual All-Stars finale. Wanna know who's judging? Click here.

Meanwhile, the Voltaggio Brothers took the win for best small plate at this year's Pigs and Pinot fundraiser in Healdsburg, CA.

Tre Wilcox is working hard to ready his new restaurant, Marquee Grill and Bar, for its opening, which you can read more about here.

News from two of the women of Season 6: Preeti Mistry does lunch pop-up style at the Juhu Beach Club. And Robin Leventhal does deli on Mercer Island, reports Seattle Weekly.

Finally, what is with Top Chef and HBO? Bourdain is writing for Treme, and now Colicchio is cooking for Game of Thrones: Here's more, including a video where he describes his inspiration for the dishes - which will be available from food trucks in NY this week and LA next week.

Colicchio also tutored Kate Winslett in HBO's Mildred Pierce miniseries, which premiered last night. And we were tickled to read on Top Chef Just Desserts' Eric Wolitsky's facebook page: "That's Kate Winslet with pies made by me and my staff from Baked!"

And if you're still hungry for Angelo Sosa's food, check out this piece about a special dinner he did at the Turtle Club in Hoboken.

TC News & Information 2.19.2009

Thestar.com has a profile on Canadian Gail Simmons.

Here's an interview with season 6's Eli Kirschtein. And of course no interview with the man can go by without some mention of Robin Leventhal. Robin - just consider it free publicity. :)

Tom Colicchio is hosting a fund-raiser at his restaurants Colicchio & Sons (NY) and Craft (LA) this coming Sunday, February 21st. Natalie Portman will co-host, and Rocco DiSpirito and Top Chef Masters 1 competitor Michael Schlow will be helping out with the food. More information can be found here.

TC News & Information 1.15.2010

Here's an article about the fall and rise of season 4 cheftestant Dale Levitski.

Top Chef Masters competitor Art Smith will be celebrating his 50th birthday at Soldier Field in Chicago during the 5th annual World Festival benefiting Common Threads on March 1st. Gail Simmons will be hosting, and participating Chicago-area chefs will include Top Chef season 4 winner Stephanie Izard and Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless, plus Graham Elliott Bowles. A live and silent auction will feature a dinner cooked by Season 5's Radhika Desai, and lunch for 2 with Top Chef Las Vegas guest judge Nigella Lawson.

According to Grub Street: On March 19th and 20th, chef Charlie Palmer will be hosting his fifth annual Pigs & Pinot event in Healdsburg featuring chefs Bryan Voltaggio and Kevin Gillespie from Top Chef, along with the Food Network's Tyler Florence and Roland Passot of La Folie. Weekend package tickets are on sale by phone only, at 800-889-7188.

StarChefs.com has named the Rising Star chefs of the LA and San Diego areas, and not surprisingly, Michael Voltaggio is one of them.

What's been going on with Robin Leventhal since Top Chef? She's been teaching, among other things. Read about it here.

TC News & Information 12.23.2009

The season is over, but Creative Loafing is continuing its Top Chef podcasts with this interview with Robin Leventhal.

The New York Times is having its 9th Annual Arts & Leisure Weekend January 7-10. The 2010 festivities will include Padma Lakshmi, Eric Ripert, and Gail Simmons. For more information, click here.

Kevin Gillespie is featured Tampa Bay Online's "Table Conversations" podcast.

Top Chef has been nominated for several Tasty Awards, which honor the best in food and fashion programming. Fans can vote for their favorites in the "People's Choice" category by filling out the form here.

Toby Young loves Christmas. How does his wife feel about it? Read Toby's column on the subject here.

Exit Interviews - Robin Leventhal TCLV

The codes to embed Bravo videos are a little wonky this week, so if you'd like to watch Robin Leventhal's Bravo exit interview, please click here.

All Top Chef Interview with Robin Leventhal

Chef Robin Leventhal describes her experience on Top Chef and her plans for the future. Among other things, Robin is developing a line of dishware and teaching cooking classes...

And yes, she knows how to make panna cotta.

Thank you Robin.

Click here for the podcast.

Top Recipe, Top Chef Las Vegas Episode 6

If you want the written recipe, you can find it here.

And, if you're interested in Robin's Quickfire-winning apple crisp recipe, click here.

TC News & Information

Capital Spice has an interview with Baltimore Chef Jesse Sandlin...

...and the Baltimore Sun has an article on one of their three local hopefuls.

Stefan Richter shares the most important qualities needed to win Top Chef.

Sign On San Diego spoke with TC5 cheftestant Rich Sweeney about Top Chef.

Eat All About It has an interview with Ashley Merriman and Robin Leventhal.

The season has just begun and already Amuse-Biatch is in rare form!

Here's an interview with Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless.

And finally...Daily Loafing's TCM podcast is here.

Top Chef 6 Bio - Robin Leventhal

AGE: 43
HOMETOWN: Sun Valley, Idaho – currently resides in Seattle, Wash.
PROFESSION: Chef, Artist and Teacher
CULINARY EDUCATION: Self-Taught
FAVORITE SIMPLE SUMMER RECIPE: Grilled Corn and Avocado Salad with a great piece of fish or meat.

Before becoming a chef, Robin was an artist. While pursuing a Masters in Fine Arts at the University of Michigan, she took a job in the catering department. This was only intended to be a summer job, but it quickly became clear she had a passion for food. Robin’s Pacific Northwest roots are the foundation of her cooking, which is accented by the flavors of her world travels. Robin formerly owned and operated Crave, a popular Seattle bistro, and currently uses her cooking and culinary connections to help raise money for Lymphoma research and is closely involved with the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.