All Top Chef Interview with Zac Young

Top Chef Just Desserts contestant Zac Young, talks about his experience on the Bravo Show.

A highlight: Yigit recently made the cake for Zac's sister's baby shower!

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Thank you Chef Zac!

Congratulations, Chef Danielle Keene!

And finally we have an Elimination Challenge win for pastrycheftestant Danielle Keene! While she was a regular visitor to the bottom three early on in the competition, she showed later on that she has what it takes to make it to the final three, and maybe even win the whole shooting match.

After narrowly missing the Quickfire win with her candymaking skill (love the caramel corn truffle!), she wowed Sylvia Weinstock with her piano key-and-roses decorated layer cake.



We always knew Chef Keene had it in her! Way to go! Last woman standing! Now go win this thing!

This post is for positive comments about Chef Keene. If you have anything negative to say about her or her competition, please do so here.

ATC Love to Chef Zac Young

Another member of Team Go Diva takes the fall this week when Zac Young's blue-iced layer cake is not a favorite of cake queen Sylvia Weinstock and the rest of the judges. Last week, Zac won the Elimination Challenge with his clever tea party cakes, so it was surprising to see how far off-course he went this time around.

Though the cake lost points for unattractiveness, the judges praised its multi-level moistness. Unfortunately, moistness wasn't enough.



All Top Chef is sorry to see that Zac did not make it to the final three, but he is still a winner in our eyes nonetheless.

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

Reactions to Top Chef Just Desserts Episode 9

In this penultimate episode of Top Chef Just Desserts, we're left with four pastrycheftestants, each vying to be number one.

For the Quickfire Challenge, they are tasked with creating a four-piece assortment of chocolates that tells their life stories, one of which must represent their "golden moment." The winner of this challenge will have one piece of their chocolate manufactured and sold by Godiva. The pastrycheftestants all seem to think this is a great thing, when really it's Godiva making money off of them.

After two hours, the candy making is complete...well, except for Yigit's fourth piece which didn't want to cooperate...and Gail Simmons and guest judge Francois Payard come in for a tasting and judgement. For a minute there, it looks like Danielle will get the win, but Morgan is once more the victor.

Next up, the Elimination Challenge. Gail introduces an old man named Ben to the pastrycheftestants and tells them they will be creating an anniversary cake for Ben's 61st wedding anniversary. The cakes will be judged on flavor as well as appearance, and the winner of the challenge will receive $15K.

After shopping, the chefs have 10 hours to prep. During this time, Gail thinks it would be fun for them to get to know their clients better, so in strolls Ben with his wife...Sylvia Weinstock, the bespectacled judge from earlier in the season. The pastrycheftestants now know they need to step up their game if they're going to impress the Cake Queen. Even Johnny Iuzzini admits that making a cake for Sylvia would intimidate him.

The next day, they move their cakes to the venue, a hideous, flat, modern-style house in Beverly Hills, where they have two more hours to complete their project. Soon enough, the place is swarming with senior citizens with forks ready to taste. Sylvia is quick with the barbs, saying that Zac's inelegant pile of blue and disco dust "would be a great bar mitzvah cake" and that Yigit's cake was like "a woman who wears all of her jewelry at one time." Zing!

Morgan's cake is a little dry and boring, but Payard likes the piano on top. Danielle's cake gets mostly praise, apart from displeasure at the "battleship gray" color of her buttercream.

The judges manage to find something bad to say about all of the cakes, but they seemed especially hard on Zac who takes the opportunity to throw Morgan under a vehicle of mass transportation. His complaint? Morgan doesn't seem excited when he wins challenges. Morgan then retorts that he would rather remain composed than flail around like a little girl.

Zing!

It ends up being Danielle who flails around like a little girl after being announced the winner of the challenge. And Zac is asked to pack up his offset spatula and candy thermometer and begone.

So what did you think about this episode? Please leave a comment!

TC News and Information 11.10.10

It's a big week for Stephanie Izard! In addition to her impressive sweep of the Eater awards, her restaurant, The Girl and The Goat, has learned it's won a Michelin Bib Gourmand designation. It seems the Windy City is abuzz with anticipation of next week's release of the Michelin Guide, with special events lined up that include a panel discussion/radio-show taping with Stephanie and TC Masters contestant Graham Elliot on November 18 and a live chat November 19 featuring Rick Bayless and Art Smith of TC Masters with former NY Times food critic Frank Bruni. More info about both events here. The Girl and The Goat also took the top spot on Chicago Magazine's November Hot List. Want to try some of Stephanie's food but don't live in Chicago? You might be in luck if you're near Miami or NYC. This month all of Mercadito's locations are featuring her braised chicken taco with avocado crème fraîche, fermented black bean, nicoise olive tapenade, mint, preserved lemons, sambal, smoked tomato and shaved brussel sprouts, at 4 tacos for $16 to benefit Share Our Strength. TC Masters contestant Wylie Dufresne is another chef who will design a taco for the year-long benefit. You can find out more here and here.

Where else can you meet and eat with Top Chef contestants? All over, it seems. Here are just a few upcoming events.

Mike Isabella and Carla Hall will be at the Metropolitan Cooking and Entertainment Show in D.C. November 13. And here's something a little different - Carla is also appearing at the 17th Annual Funniest Celebrity in Washington Contest December 2.

Meanwhile, Dave Martin will be doing a cooking class in the "other" Washington November 17, at Desert Wind Winery in the Yakima Valley, and has other upcoming appearances in Washington, Oregon and Nebraska.

Dave's Season 1 rival, Tiffani Faison, will be participating in Eat Your Heart Out Boston November 14 at the Paradise Rock Club where chefs and local bands team up to benefit local charities. In an interesting twist, the chefs will "style plates in homage to their music idols" - Tiff's dish: pork belly agrodolce, house-made “hots,” foie pastrami mayo, and crispy onion, inspired by Ray Lamontagne’s "New York City’s Killing Me."

If New York isn't killing you, you can catch Richard Blais demo-ing sous-vide equipment at Bloomie's on November 20.

Jen Carroll and Rick Moonen will be headlining the James Beard Celebrity Chef Tour in Las Vegas November 15.

And this one sounds like a lot of fun - if you're in Palmetto Bluff, South Carolina November 20, you can see Gail Simmons, Kevin Gillespie, Kevin Sbraga and Kenny Gilbert at the Music to Your Mouth Culinary Festival. How much more fun could the Low Country be?

Tonight's Top Chef Just Desserts Preview

As the finale quickly approaches, the remaining chef'testants really start to feel the pressure. Channeling their emotions, the chefs must create a box of truffles, a process that typically takes multiple days, in just a couple of hours. Morgan, the group outcast is full of emotions and ready for the competition. Will the chef's make it through this Quickfire or will they (and their truffles) crumble under the pressure?

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.

Recap Roundup - Top Chef Just Desserts Episode 8

Jordan Baker also watches Project Runway: "Yigit decides to take a page out of Gretchen’s book and tell us what he thinks about how all of his competitors aren’t as good as he is: he thinks Danielle’s piece is not what Shinmin would want to see; Erik’s cupcake is 'a little disarrayed'; Zac’s piece looks like a flower arrangement that had a rough night; and Morgan’s uses brown, which is 'not a flower color.'"

Creative Loafing on sabotage? "Morgan show us that he knows how to 'pull sugar' (I just think that makes a great innuendo) and then 'accidentally' knocked over one of Yigit’s sugar vases. Do I smell sabotage?"

After Elton on the Elimination twist: "Then Fonzie marches in to announce that this challenge is about to jump the shark. He’s looking more Fonzie-like than usual, in a black T-shirt, tight jeans, and visible pocket chain, walking in with this cocky strut, like it’s still Halloween and he’s going to a party dressed as Melissa Etheridge. He tells the chefs that for this challenge, they’ve taken away all the chocolate."

My Monkey Could Do That on being more observant than the judges: "The savory shortbread is square, and I giggle at the “Stedman is square” comment. They’re messy, and Johnny complains they are too big, but they taste delicious and the shortbread is done properly....I like that they’re both shortbread, like Stedman cannot be defined except as a variation on Oprah."

Culture Mob on Zac's presentation: "Zac is up next, and he gets excellent marks across the board; he also manages to shoehorn about 400 Sound of Music references in, and it’s making me wonder why he didn’t just make crisp apple streudel and be done with it (did anyone get that?)."

TWOP on the end is near: "Gail begins the proceedings by pointing out that their attitudes needed some adjustment because this was the Best Challenge EVER and they both seemed like little sugar spun Eeyore's with cotton candy clouds of sadness hanging over their heads. Can't they cheer up at the awesomeness of this celebri-TEA party challenge? Eric glumly shakes his head no. He just couldn't push through the hurdle of trying to represent Oprah without any chocolate."

Fan Favorite Voting

Voting is open for Top Chef Just Desserts Fan Favorite! Click here to vote up to 40 times for your favorite pastrycheftestant.

poll by twiigs.com

TC News and Information 11.8.10

TC6 finalist and Fan Fave Kevin Gillespie has two cookbooks in the works with publisher Andrews & McMeel. Way to go, Kevin!

Speaking of Fan Favorite, the polls are now open at Bravo.com to vote for Top Chef: Just Desserts Fan Fave.

Here's a great new interview with judge Gail Simmons.

It's official - TC7's Angelo Sosa's winning short ribs are set to launch into space, and NASA has the details.

For something a little more down-home, check out the Apple Cranberry Frangipane Tart Season 5's Carla Hall shared with NPR. "All it is is almonds and sugar and butter, oh my!" she says.

Yigit Pura may not have made it into the top 3 on last week's episode of Just Desserts, but he managed to claim a spot inside The Bullseye on Entertainment Weekly.

And here's a fun contest, the 1st Ever Alaska Wild Fish Taco Contest. The winner gets to hang out with the Too Hot Tamales, TC Masters contestant Susan Feniger and her long-time business partner, Mary Sue Milliken, on their taco truck making your winning dish! Even if you're not thinking of submitting an entry, click through to the animated promo - it's a hoot!