Five Questions with Gail Simmons

See what Gail Simmons has to say about eating, relaxation, and Top chef here. Posted on AllTopChef.com

Meet Michael Voltaggio and Gail Simmons at the LA Times Festival of BooksThis Weekend

Click here for more information and a schedule of events.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

A New Interview with Gail Simmons

Photo: Brett Gundlock for The Globe and Mail

Top Chef Judge Gail Simmons Dishes on her new book, life and cooking.

A highlight:

Slowly, though, she becomes the voice of her book – lively and spontaneous, that of a free-spirited 35-year-old navigating unplanned fame. On the subject of starting a family with her husband, Jeremy Abrams, an executive in the music industry, she deadpans, “It’s hard to make babies when you’re not in the same bed. Apparently, that’s how it happens.”

Click here for the full interview.

Top Chef News, Shoes, and Shows

Zac Young of Just Desserts 1 at the James Beard Foundation annual gala and auction: “I promised if the bidding went high enough, I'd cook in Gail's shoes. It did and La Simmons handed over the goods.”

We mentioned yesterday that we spotted TC: Texas contestant Nyesha Arrington on last Sunday’s “sneak peak” at the new Food Network show, Chef Hunters. Now comes word TC Masters Mary Sue Milliken and Susan Feniger will be looking to hire an executive chef for their restaurant Border Grill on the show’s official premiere this Thursday night at 10:00 Eastern.

And if that’s not enough, there’s a 1980s-era sit-com in the works based on Too Hot Tamales Mary Sue and Susan’s long-standing friendship and business partnership (and there's that husband they have in common . . .)

Missing Anthony Bourdain as a judge on the new season of Top Chef? Never fear. His new show, The Layover, premieres on the Travel Channel Monday, Nov. 21. Click here for video of his segment this week on Letterman, where he explains how The Layover is different from No Reservations, and why “the smell of failure is French toast.”

Bourdain will also make an appearance, as it were, on The Simpsons this Sunday (Nov. 13 at 8:00 Eastern on Fox), in which Marge becomes, yes, a food blogger. Grub Street has a great interview with the show’s executive producer about the episode (don’t miss the slideshow).

Posted on AllTopChef.com

Gail Simmons on Jimmy Fallon

TC News and Information 12.04.10 - Saturday Night Special

Yowza! The All-Stars season's first eliminated chef, Elia Aboumrad, is speaking up for herself - and speaking out against a lot.

In this interview with TV Guide, Elia takes issue with whether the rules of the episode were enforced, claims she was given palm tree leaf in lieu of ti leaves, says she argued for her dish for 40 minutes at Judges Table, rues what was left on the editing room floor, and defends Fabio for serving his pasta on paper.

She has more to say about what she perceived to be an uneven playing field and those leaves with which she wrapped her red snapper in this item from The Feast, where she says: "My season was crazy but we were never rude like this to each other in the kitchen. Here there was no respect for the kitchen, for the ingredients, for the utensils. It was just a war, and I was very surprised to see that. People would elbow you, take things from underneath you, break things in order to open them. Behavior that you don’t see in kitchens. You shouldn't have that if you want to be a top chef, but maybe that's what they're looking for." (Hmm, no rudeness on the head-shaving season? Oh, she did specify that rudeness didn't take place in the kitchen.)

You can find more about what Elia has to say about those pesky rules – and the real mother lode of controversy over her comments – in this piece from the Chicago Tribune, where Elia has particularly incendiary words for head judge Tom Collichio – and Tom talks back in harsh tones as well.

Moving on. Colicchio's Bravo blog takes up the question of another rules infraction that did make it on air: "As for Richard, we wanted to acknowledge that he’d made a top dish, but we simply could not consider him for the win because he had not stopped plating when the time ran out. It’s a hard-and-fast rule. I don’t think he was trying to cheat –- I think he was simply absorbed in what he was doing and didn’t pay attention. One of the other contestants rightly alerted the producers to what had happened, and Richard was out of the running. One doesn’t lose for working past the time-limit; one simply cannot win that challenge. Once Richard saw the tape, I believe he was fine with the decision. Any other outcome would be unfair –- there would be no point to the time-limit." Oh, yeah, it probably didn't hurt Blais that he already had immunity by virtue of being part of Team Chicago in the Quickfire Challenge.

Judge Gail Simmons' Bravo blog addresses expectations for the Elimination Challenge: "We did not want to see each dish completely reinvented, but rather reconfigured as a better version of its former self. Most of our cheftestants did just that, and we were pleased with many of the results." Gail is also blogging All-Stars for Entertainment Weekly, where her take on the first episode includes this: "Richard’s pork belly and Casey’s pork belly—both were redeemed for sure. Both had been a problem of execution, not conception like other dishes, and they both knew exactly how to fix them. Unfortunately, Richard did go over the time. We went back to the tapes many times before we decided that we couldn’t allow him to win, but it certainly wasn’t something he’d be eliminated for. Other contestants saw that he went over and we needed to be fair to all of them. His was just an honest mistake."

The inimitable Anthony Bourdain is back to blogging for Bravo for the first time since 2007. (You might recall that he discontinued after a snit over product placement according to one of his blog posts for the Travel Channel which has since been taken down; salient quoteage has, however, survived here). In Tony's Bravo blog about All-Stars Episode 1, he talks about his on-air criticism of Fabio's dish: "No one likes their work to be mocked. Fabio in particular. And yet mock I did. I couldn't help it. I mean, look at that thing. Its supreme ugliness only reinforced and highlighted by its presentation on paper, bringing to mind immediately and inevitably, the command oft directed at a bad puppy: "Go on the paper! The paper!!" And then Tony back-pedals - a bit: "I feel bad about beating up on Fabio. Maybe I'm losing my edge. Maybe I should leave the bloodletting to my sinister French colleague, Eric Ripert. Or that English guy ... what was his name? Maybe I should confine myself to constructive criticism. To a kinder, gentler, more mentor-like approach. Wear a big fluffy f---ing sweater to Judges' Table, speak in quiet, melifluous Garrison Keilloresque tones. Maybe lay off the gin. . . . Or not."

Frequent TC judge and Bourdain BFF Eric Ripert is also blogging the All-Stars for Bravo, despite the fact that he is not a guest judge this season, owing to the appearance of his protege, Jennifer Carroll. You can listen to the Ripper's melifluous tones via video or read the transcript here, in which he says: "Fabio was very sensitive about the criticism of Anthony of his dish. And he was very animated and very critical and attacked Anthony. He basically blamed him for making fun of him and criticizing his dish without being constructive. Anthony, you cannot do that! You have to be a nice gentleman. In Washington, Anthony was making fun of me because supposedly I was the evil man and he decided to be very nice, so, Anthony, I'm giving it back to you. Be careful!"

Season 6's Eli Kirshtein continues to blog on Bravo, with insights I often find interesting for their pragmatism from his perspective as both an experienced chef and a TC competitor. About this episode he writes: "Redesigning dishes is an everyday job for the modern chef. We take a concept, hopefully one that we feel strongly about, and believe in at the onset, and tweak and modify it till it meets the standards and vision we have for it, optimally before you ever serve it to a diner. One of the challenges of the show is the lack of opportunity to go through this diligence. You realistically have just one shot at a dish. All the nuances of seasoning, garnishing, even plating, is left to one opportunity. This specific challenge gives them another go, one more chance at it. All of them have re-concepted this dish over and over again; this is the one the got away. They have hoped for this chance to redeem themselves and prove it was a one off mistake. If they do strongly here, they will feel verified and qualified at the onset. An albatross removed." And Eli concludes: "This season has so many more layers to it than ever before."

If you really care, Bravo is bringing us another blog this season from "Senior Editor of Bravotv.com" Monica A. Reyhan. I'm not sure what it takes to be a "senior editor" for Bravo's website, but hello? She didn't know until that recent media conference call (which ATC's Minx blogged about here) that Bourdain was going to be a judge this season? And she claims of Bourdain's earlier Bravo blogs, "As a young and naive editor at Bravotv.com it was my privilege to receive his blogs each week for posting. Unless I'm re-writing history I think his blog may have been my idea." Sorry, but this "senior editor" is no substitute for insider Season 1's Lee Ann Wong, who posted some of the best blogs about TC ever on Bravo's site, sharing her insider perspective when she went on to become a culinary producer of TC.

For another quasi-insider's take, you can read Open Table's live blog of TCAS Episode 1 with Season 7's Ed Cotton here (apparently Ed was not asked to come back for All-Stars).

And in case you're bored or snowed in this weekend, you can read extended versions of that All-Stars media conference call here and here.

Stay warm, all, and happy reading!

TC News and Information 12.1.10

Woo-hoo - tonight's the night! And there's a media feeding-frenzy goin' on.

Here's what TV Guide gleaned from head judge Tom Collichio about the All-Stars season (I'd love to know Tom's 1-year-old son's reaction to being on set - and I'd really love to know which contestant(s) were among the 5% of the previous competitors the producers didn't manage to snag for their dream team All-Stars roster).

Click here for an interesting assessment of "All-Star Alignment" and a star chart I'm not sure I completely understand or agree with.

And here's a fun trip down memory lane.

Richard Blais offers his own assessment of some of his All-Star competitors in this interview.

Jamie Lauren reveals that she had no idea who she'd be competing against in the All-Star season until she met them all back in NYC.

Dale Levitski talks about this season's judging and why he hears TC theme music wherever he goes in this great piece from the Chicago Tribune. He also says he felt "stood up at the prom" by Michelin and has some interesting things to say about how he'd restructure the finale challenges in this Q&A with Metromix.

Dale L. encourages fans to come out for an All-Stars viewing party tomorrow at Small Bar, next to his Chicago restaurant, Sprout. No doubt there will be plenty more viewing parties from other cheftestants as well. Here are some that have hit our radar.

You can crack a Bud Light Lime and sample "globally inspired snacks" at Tiffani Faison's Boston restaurant, Rocca. Tre Wilcox is having a viewing party at The Loft 610 in Plano, TX. And Fabio Viviani says on facebook, in his own inimitable way, "Tomorrow night Premiere TOP CHEF All Star !! 7pm Cafe Firenze & 9pm Osteria Firenze ill be in both place !! See you there !!" Casey Thompson's Dallas restaurant, Brownstone, will offer complimentary bites, happy hour drink specials and half-priced bottles of wine throughout the season according to this.

Updates on Jennifer Carroll's premiere viewing party at 10 Arts in DC, which we reported about previously: Details of Jen's tasting menu here. According to this, an a la carte menu will also be offered, and Eric Ripert, frequent TC guest judge and Jen's mentor will be on hand to meet, greet, and sign books.

Photo courtesy of Max Jacobson, Unicaworld.com

If you, like me, don't live in a city graced with the presence of a Top Cheftestant (yet), you can check out the food and festivities presented by a number of former TC competitors at the Food and Wine All-Star Weekend held earlier in November in Las Vegas, thanks to this report from Unicaworld. And for a truly charming take on what it's like to put together such an event, check out this post from culinary student Athena Thickstun who worked behind the scenes.

Photo courtesy of Athena Thickstun, http://athenathickstun.blogspot.com/

Not sated yet? Click here for a full transcript of that media conference call with Tom Collichio and Anthony Bourdain that our own Minx reported on earlier.

Or live chat with TC judge Gail Simmons tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. EST according to these directions:

WHEN: Thursday, December 2nd at 1:00pm EST
WHERE: Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry’s USTREAM channel
HOW:
1. RSVP by replying to this invitation
2. Sign up for a USTREAM account – it’s easy and free!
3. Logon to ask Gail your questions… Or submit your questions ahead of time on the Puff Pastry web site or Tweet to @PepperidgeFarm using “#AskGail”

Happy premiere viewing, all!
eggy

TC News and Information 11.23.10

Well, lookie who has a book deal announced just in time to coincide with the run-up to all the attention Top Chef All-Stars is getting. Yes, it's Gail Simmons, and her memoir is titled Eating With My Mouth Full. Sorry, but you'll have to wait until 2012 for it to be published.

Speaking of writers, the guy who won TC judge Anthony Bourdain's Medium Raw Essay Contest collected his cash and talked about writing his piece in 15 minutes here.

Meanwhile, head judge Tom Colicchio revealed at the recent Food and Wine and Rum Festival in Barbados that he will be actually be cooking in the TC All-Stars season: "It was the first time, I got into the kitchen and cooked with them, under the clock. It's harder than it looks." Hmmm, wonder if Tom cooked his dish in less than 15 minutes.

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!

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.

TC News and Information 9.28.10

Wondering why a few of your favorite "also-rans" won't be competing in the All-Star season of Top Chef? Season 6 finalist and Fan Favorite Kevin Gillespie speaks out here.

Great profile of Gail Simmons and her evolution on the Top Chef franchise here.

Looking for food with a view? Check out this article and slideshow about Tom Collichio's new NYC restaurant, Riverpark.

Meanwhile, All-Star contestant Mike Isabella is opening a new restaurant, with fellow Season 6 chef Bryan Voltaggio as an investor, according to this item.

And if you're wondering what All-Star competitor Marcel Vigneron from Season 2 is up to these days (or are just a fan of venison and carpaccio, as I am), check out this blog post - with great photos - of a meal he recently helped prepare.

Finally, although I think we're all glad Anthony Bourdain will be a permanent guest just on the upcoming All-Star season of Top Chef, apparently his wife is thankful he turned down an offer to appear on another reality competition show. Still, her comment got the folks at eater.com imagining what might have been. Check out their gallery of hilarious Bourdain - Dancing With the Stars mash-ups here. Just try not to spit coffee onto your keyboard like I did.

Mash-up by Raphael Brion / Eater.com

All-Star Rumors Confirmed

Rumored contestants according to Eater.com

TV Guide and Eater.com report that Top Chef Season 8 will indeed be an all-star season, premiering December 1. The 18 cast members are to be revealed during tonight’s reunion show. And Anthony Bourdain will be a regular judge, alternating with Gail Simmons!

TC News and Information 9.20.10

We all have our opinions about Season 7. Executive producers Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz of Magical Elves offer their own critique here.

Meanwhile, there were plenty of Season 7 finale parties and Just Desserts premiere parties last Wednesday. Zagat offers up a comparison of the Gail Simmons/Food & Wine finale bash at Craft (where Ed Cotton confirmed he will not be appearing in future TC’s – which presumably includes the all-but-certain All-Star Season 8) with the premiere party hosted by Johnny Iuzzini (at which no desserts were served).  

Gawker attended the F&W shindig, encountering a Padma “lost in the fog of forgetfulness,” then fled to watch the episode elsewhere, as no one in the party crowd seemed to care to watch it.  

DCist reports that viewing parties for the final S7 episode at Eric Ripert's West End Bistro, The Oval Room (where S7 contestant Tamesha Warren is the sous chef) and Spike Mendelsohn's Good Stuff Eatery were sparsely attended (but as someone who lives a long way from D.C., I still would have loved to be one of the few).

Just Desserts contestant Yigit Pura's restaurant, Taste, hosted a TC:JD viewing party, which definitely included desserts, which you can see more of here.

Kevin Sbraga reveals more details about the restaurant he hopes to open with the $125,000 he earned as Season 7 winner, while runner-up Ed Cotton says he would have sat on the money but still has aspirations for his own restaurant...

Season 4 winner Stephanie Izard has finally opened her new restaurant, Girl and the Goat, which Chicago Magazine offers an in-depth review of here. And Season 5 winner Hosea Rosenberg’s new food truck business gets a thumbs-up from his hometown paper in Boulder for its global cuisine here.

Heather H. (as in Hurlburt), winner of the Top Chef: Just Desserts Episode 1 Elimination Challenge, talks about TC:JD and her prior competitive cooking experience here.

And TC:JD contestant Zac “Gold Dust” Young will be adding fried whoopee pies, seasonal doughnuts, and a chocolate soufflé with salted peanut caramel and nougat ice cream to the menu at NYC’s Flex Mussels restaurant according to this report.

The charming and multi-talented Hubert Keller (he’s also apparently a kick-ass DJ), whose Top Chef judging experience goes back to Season 1 and who is fondly remembered by many for his resourcefulness in cooking pasta in a dorm-room shower on Top Chef Masters Season 1, returns as a judge on Just Desserts this week (he’s alternating with Dannielle Kyrillos of Daily Candy – anyone else heard of her? I hadn’t). In other news, Hubert’s Las Vegas outpost of his San Francisco-based Fleur de Lys has closed but will reopen as a tapas restaurant with a lower price point in December according to this report.

 [Still from Anthony Bourdain's Alternate Universe]

And finally, because he may be one of the most beloved Top Chef judges of all time, even if he wimped out on the snarkiness in his Season 7 appearance, a bit of Anthony Bourdain news. Tony is writing a “graphic novel” (aka comic book) about “ultraviolent food nerds.” In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess I am a Bourdain-o-phile (yes, I actually plunked down $46.50 to see him live and wrote about it at length here). 

So that’s my inaugural post as a brand spankin’ new member of the ATC team. Any links you especially liked – or didn’t? Any news you’d like to see here that I’m missing? Please let me know in the comments or via email.

Thanks!
eggy

Gail and Tom Go to Washington

Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio were spotted at the 2010 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on May 1, 2010 in Washington, DC.

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.

Hottest Men and Women in Food

Slashfood has compiled lists of the hottest men and women in food and it's really no surprise to find that there are several Top Cheftestants, guest judges, and hosts in the mix.

In the Top Ten Hottest Men, guest judge Todd English came in at 9, with former judge and rumored Top Chef Masters competitor Marcus Samuelsson at 7, Tyler Florence at 6, both Voltaggio brothers at 5, guest judges Johnny Iuzzini at 4 and Rocco DiSpirito at 3, with season 2 cheftestant Sam Talbot coming in at numero uno.

As for the women, former Top Chef hostess Katie Lee came in at #9, with Gail Simmons in the 7th spot, season 6 finalist Jennifer Carroll at 5, guest judge Nigella Lawson in 4th, and Padma Lakshmi in the number one position.

Top Chef Experiments: Carla's Roquefort Souffle

The January 2010 issue of Food & Wine has the potential to scare. Right there, at the top of the cover, in big bold print, are three little words that so many cheftestants fear (with good reason): The Judges' Issue.

Fortunately, as a Top Chef blogger, those words look like beautiful art on the page.

The January issue is pretty judgy, too, with Frank Bruni torturing Eric Ripert's amazing sommelier, Aldo Sohm, and restaurant critics from all over the country opining on their favorite chicken dishes. Plus, there's Gail. Lots and lots of Gail.

And the best Gail is in the article, "The Gail Simmons Challenge: Rescue that Top Chef Recipe." It's pretty much as it sounds - Gail reworks some of the failed recipes from seasons past, turning disasters like CJ's hideous airplane broccolini and Jennifer Z.'s notorious chiles rellenos into workable, edible dishes.

Feeling cheffy myself, I attempted Gail's reinvention of Carla's Roquefort souffle that never made it to the plate in the season five finale. While I've eaten a lot of souffles in my time, I hadn't made one before, so I thought it would be a good test of a) the simplicity of the recipe and b) whether my kitchen confidence is unfounded.

And you know what? The recipe is not that difficult and I do, apparently, have some skill in the kitchen.

I switched out the Roquefort for Stilton (because my grocery store was having a Roquefort-free day) and used a combination of heavy cream and skim milk for the cup of milk (it's unspecified in the recipe). I also used eight 1/2 cup ramekins instead of four one cuppers...because it was what I had. As a result, I decreased the cooking time by just about four minutes.

Overall, the recipe took a little longer to make than I'd anticipated, and I might have overbeat the egg whites just a tad, which slightly dried out the souffle, but they rose in the oven and had great flavor on the plate. The intensity of the cheese and is a good match for the chives and for the airy texture of the souffle. Paired with a green salad, just the way the article photos suggest, it's a nice light meal.

And pretty, pretty, pretty. While the just-out-of-the-oven puff didn't last forever, I was able to bask in its glow for a few seconds as I fumbled with my camera.

The verdict? I might make it again to fine-tune my souffle-making skills. It's ideal for a fancy brunch or a ladies' lunch, though not quite hearty enough on its own as a winter dinner for me and my big strapping husband.

Not bad, though. Gail has done Carla proud. Hootie hoo!

Top Chef Tidbits

Eric Ripert, Padma Lakshmi, and Gail Simmons spilled the beans on Top Chef during their appearance at the New York Times Arts & Leisure weekend. Entertainment Weekly has the scoop, but here are some highlights.

Chocolate and chicken liver don’t mix: The worst dish Eric Ripert, who has made a total of five appearances on Top Chef, ever ate on the show was Ilan’s chocolate ganache with chicken liver on season 2. Padma added: “It had a rubbery, spring action, and we had to eat it. That’s the thing about our jobs.”

The most distasteful contest: “Michael Midgley [from season 2] was as offensive off camera as he was on camera,” Padma said. “On his audition tape, he talked about ‘blanking chicks.’ I didn’t even want to taste the food he handled.”

The most egregious act of brown-nosing: Contestants are supposed to keep a safe distance from judges while on the show, but season five’s Stefan gave Padma the leftover roses from his challenge dish. A producer kindly came over and snatched the flowers out of Padma’s hand.

Who do the judges keep in touch with? Gail, who was quick to note that she socializes with contestants only after the finale airs, still talks to season one winner Harold and season four’s Nikki. Padma has kept in touch with Dale (season 3) and Hung (season 3 winner), but both women sang the praises of Lee Anne Wong, who went from season one cheftestant to Top Chef culinary producer until the end of season six. “She’s such a great unsung hero,” Padma said.

Kevin is as verbose as he is jolly: “Eeeeveryone loves Kevin,” Gail said. “He would start talking and kept talking [at the finale in Napa Valley]. We were transfixed. He’s so articulate and scientific.” To which Padma said: “For every two minutes of what Kevin said at judges’ table, there was a one-and-a-half hour culinary soliloquy.”

Speaking of judges’ table: They sometimes last eight hours. When Gail recalled the season three judges’ table finale in Aspen, there was a collective groan between her and Padma; the decision-making had gone on until about 4 a.m. “If we can’t make a decision, the producers will sit us there,” Padma said. “It’s like detention.” But Eric added: “It’s really great TV because at 5 a.m. you truly say what you mean!”

There’s an unofficial fifth judge at that table: Sometimes when the judges can’t decide, the producers will look to the camera operator they call T-Bone, who shoots the still-life shots of the contestants’ dishes, which he eats afterward.

Other fun facts: Black beans give Gail “the heebie-jeebies,” and the reason Padma sounds so robotic when she describes the challenges is because she’s wearing an earpiece through which all of the legally approved info is being fed to her.

Top Chef at the Arts & Leisure Weekend

Top Chef guest judge Eric Ripert, a hugely pregnant Padma Lakshmi, and Gail Simmons attended the 9th Annual New York Times Arts and Leisure Weekend at TheTimesCenter on January 9, 2010 in New York City.

What was Gail doing to former NYT restaurant critic Frank Bruni? Doesn't he look terrified?

The Return of Top Chef Masters

Yesterday's Television Critics Association Press Tour revealed that the second season of Top Chef Masters will premiere April 7 at 11PM before moving to its regular time slot at 10PM the following week.

Food journalist Kelly Choi will return as host, and regular Top Chef judge Gail Simmons will serve as a judge this season as well, joining restaurant critic Gael Greene, culinary expert James Oseland and food critic Jay Rayner.

Good news for Gail Simmons fans: she will also be hosting the upcoming Top Chef: Just Desserts, which is still in development.