TC News and Information 1.28.11 - Vacation Edition

Top Chef All-Stars took a holiday this week (sigh). So how about catching up on the recent getaways of some of our TC faves?

Auf'd All-Star Jennifer Carroll traveled to the Caribbean with her boss, Bravo vlogger and frequent TC guest judge Eric Ripert, for the third annual Picnic in the Caymans, based at the Ritz-Carlton hotel, which houses his restaurant, Blue. Ripert's buddy, Tony Bourdain, who sometimes judges All-Stars (glad he'll be back next week), also made an appearance, as did TC Masters contestant and All-Stars dim sum judge Susur Lee. Bourdain claims Tom spends more time in hair and make-up than Padma. What do you think? More about the Cayman event here.

TC Masters contestant Jonathan Waxman headed to Hawaii for the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour. Cooking with Iron Chef Michael Symon, you can bet pork was involved - in fact, a "reserve" pig. Waxman and Symon also spent some time answering questions from culinary students. Here's video of the $250 per person dinner Waxman and Symon whipped up on the Big Island.

In a chillier but nonetheless prestigious setting, Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio and Season 3 contestant Brian Malarkey cooked at Chef Dance, er, Sundance. From Utah, MVolt also shared his thoughts about whether Marcel is really an a**h*le or just plays one on TV.

Season 4 winner Stephanie Izard appears this weekend at Bon Appetit's Master Chef Classic in Beaver Creek, Colorado. Her "Snowshoe Excursion and Luncheon" is sold out. She'll also be up against Jose Garces and Joey Campanaro in the food festival's "Master Chef Challenge," where the competitors will be given 20 minutes to create a dish from a surprise ingredient.

If you're not lucky enough to be in one of those exotic locales but find yourself traveling through Chicago, Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless has a new outpost in O'Hare's Terminal 1, with another on the way for Terminal 3.

Stay warm, all. And Minx, good luck digging out the Ion.

eggy

TC News and Information 11.9.10

Wow! Stephanie Izard, winner and Fan Favorite of Top Chef Season 4, has racked up some serious wins in the 2010 Eater Awards, including being voted Chef of the Year: National. Stephanie and her new restaurant, The Girl and the Goat, also pretty much swept the Chicago categories, taking Chef of the Year, Restaurant of the Year, and So Hot, Right Now awards for the Windy City.

But wait, there’s more. Top Chef Masters contestant Ludo Lefebvre won for Chef of the Year: Los Angeles (beating out TC Season 6 winner Michael Voltaggio), as well as for Concept of the Year, for his LudoBites pop-up (which we offered you a glimpse of here). TC Masters Season 2 winner Marcus Samuelsson took the Fameball of the Year award (beating out TC Season 4’s Spike Mendelsohn). And judge Eric Ripert was voted Television Personality of the Year, in a category where four of the five nominees have Top Chef connections – the others: judge Anthony Bourdain, TC Masters contestant Susur Lee, and even TC Just Desserts contestant Seth Caro. Hey, Eater’s readers/voters may include an atypically high percentage of Top Chef fans, but you gotta love a contest with a sense of humor.

And if that’s not enough crazy for you, Bravo is said to be adding another cooking reality show to its line-up, featuring TC judge Rocco DiSpirito. Rocco attempts to explain how his Rocco’s Dinner Party won’t be just another TC spin-off here. Hmmm. Could be interesting to see what Rocco’s learned about making television since The Restaurant.

In other competition news, TC Masters contestant Tim Love bested Mario Batali and Guy Fieri in the Asphalt Challenge benefit at the Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth. Apparently some trash talk was involved.

TC News and Information 10.25.10

Guess who can add "Whole Pig Tent Curator" to his resume? That would be TC Season 6 finalist Kevin Gillespie, who will assume the role at Atlanta's inaugural Food and Wine Festival next May 19-22. Also slated for the fest are TC Masters contestants Tim Love and John Besh. Road trip, anyone?

Kevin also "headlined" Taste of Atlanta this weekend. We'd love to hear from any of our readers who attend.

If you can drag yourself away from Top Chef Just Desserts Wednesday and are in the area, check out the gig TC Masters contestant Susan Feniger is doing for the Santa Monica Farmers Market.

Looks like the Project Dinner Table benefit TC Masters contestant Rick Moonen is participating in Oct. 30 has sold out, but for your armchair traveling/salivating pleasure, here's the menu:

• Passed canapés: potato blintz with hot smoked sturgeon and oscetra caviar; Kushi oysters with green apple mignonette, frozen horseradish and duck pastrami with poached quince and rye crumble
• First course: sugar pumpkin soup, peekytoe crab and toasted hazelnut
• Second course: Fuji apple salad, aged white cheddar, bitter greens and maple vinaigrette
• Third course: Whole roasted Sunburst Farms Rainbow Trout, Brussel sprouts and double smoked bacon
• Fourth course: grilled Duroc pork chops, Seckel pears, turnips and grain mustard
• Fifth course: pistachio French toast, coffee ice cream and golden raisin sauce

In Connecticut Nov. 5-7, you can catch Tom Colicchio, TC Masters contestant Susur Lee, and TC Season 3 contestant Casey Thompson at the Foxwoods Food and Wine Festival. The foodie event takes place at the Foxwoods Casino and Resort on Mashantucket Pequot tribal land - if you go, don't miss the awesome Native American museum that has been built with gambling dollars. I think Tom Colicchio and his young son would enjoy it :)

Now here's an event outside the norm from what I typically see wrangling the old ATC mailbox. The Astor Center in NYC will host “The Alchemy of Taste and Smell” November 12-13. From the press release: “Cooking is alchemy: the art of transforming raw materials into a perfected form. Cooking fuses taste and smell, emotion and memory, culture and nature. The work of chefs today is much discussed, but the process by which new dishes and flavor combinations are created remains mysterious. This event will explore creativity in cooking, the composite nature of flavors and the importance of aroma in food and drink.” Capping off the event is a seven-course collaborative dinner “exploring new flavor combinations and making explicit the connection between what we smell and what we taste. For instance, a cucumber/melon salad served on a plate scented with mint essence, as a sensory sleight of hand where by the end of the dish the diner thinks that they have eaten the herb, even though they have only smelled it.” Just Desserts judge Johnny Iuzzini, TC Masters contenders Wylie Dufresne and Nils Noren, and other big names in the food world, including David Chang and Harold McGee, are among the participants. Click here for more details.

TC News & Information 8.23.10

Bravo is launching a new Top Chef social game with Facebook connect. Click here for more info.

Serious Eats has a nice interview with season 1 champ Harold Dieterle in which they talk a little about his upcoming restaurant.

Restaurant Wars guest judge Frank Bruni dishes on his experience on Top Chef.

Broward Palm Beach New Times has a recent interview with Carlos Fernandez from Top Chef season 3. Part one is here. Part two is here.

Susur Lee on Chicken Testicles. And other things. Here.

Video du Jour - Susur Lee Eats Ice Cream

Short and totally frivolous, but I know Chef Lee and his dimples have lots of fans....

Exit Interviews - Top Chef Masters 2 Finale

Top Chef Masters 2 Finale Previews

After a grueling season of out-of-the-ordinary challenges, three accomplished chefs – Rick Moonen, Susur Lee, & Marcus Samuelsson - stand to face their final challenge, but only one chef can be crowned the prestigious title of “Top Chef Master.” Who will ‘wow’ the judges panel with their expertise one last time? And who will fall short of incredibly high expectations? Find out tonight, Wednesday 6/9 @ 10/9c, only on BRAVO.

Video du Jour - Making Dumplings with Susur Lee

Step-by-step diagrams, plus recipes, can be found here.

Top Recipe - Top Chef Masters 2 Episode 6

A print version of Chef Susur Lee's recipe for the winning dish is found here.

Congratulations, Chef Susur Lee!

Chef Susur Lee once again wowed the chefs with his work. While his whimsical representation of Marge Simpson did not win him the Quickfire Challenge, his amazing ways with geoduck clams and black chicken got him a few more "5 star" votes from the judges in the bizarre foods Elimination. This week, he scored 19 points, a mere half point behind his 19.5 of a few weeks ago, which was the highest score in Top Chef Masters history.

Seems like the man can do no wrong. And the Agassi Foundation is sure to be pleased to receiving another $10,000. Way to go, Chef Lee!

This post is only for positive comments about Chef Lee and his work. If you have anything negative to say about him or his competition, please do so here.

Top Recipe - Top Chef Masters 2 Episode 4

The full recipe can be found here.

Congratulations, Chefs Lee and Adams!

Congrats to Chefs Jody Adams and Susur Lee for making it to the Championship Round! Jody made it via the High Stakes Quickfire Challenge in which she bested the other 4 chefs with her fruit plate. She would have made it anyway, since she got the second-highest number of stars for her Elimination Challenge dish, putting her right behind Susur in the judging.

Susur, despite comments about the heat level in his chutneys, got an astonishing 19.5 stars, including 5 stars each from Gail, Gael, and Jay, the highest number in Top Chef Masters history.

Both of the chefs' dishes looked fantastic and deserving of the wins. We hope the both of you go far in the next round. Congratulations!

Top Chef Masters 2 - Meet Susur Lee

Hailed by Zagat as “a culinary genius,” Susur Lee has emerged from his humble beginnings as a 15-year-old apprentice in Hong Kong to become a worldwide leader in Asian fusion cuisine, blending traditional Chinese dishes with classical French techniques. In 1987, Lee opened the doors to his 12-table Lotus restaurant in Toronto, earning rave reviews from The New York Times, Art Culinaire, Gourmet, and Food & Wine magazine.

Lotus ran successfully for a decade before Lee decamped for a "re-energizing" period to Singapore, where he served as head chef and consultant. Returning home to open Susur in 2000, Lee has since launched restaurants in Manhattan (Shang), Washington D.C. (Zentan), and a second restaurant, Lee, in Toronto.

Lee is a sought-after guest chef across the globe, and has been featured on numerous media outlets. A noted philanthropist, he contributes regularly to the James Beard Foundation, cancer research at Spinizolla in Boston and the Null Foundation, which provides scholarships for underprivileged students to attend culinary school.