All Top Chef Interview with Stefan Richter

Top Chef Seattle contestant, Stefan Richter talks about his experience on the show.

A highlight:

ATC: Going in to the competition, did you feel that you had an advantage?

SR: I think it was a disadvantage to be honest. You kind of dread what is going to happen. The waiting and the stew room, it is really harsh. You see two minutes of it, but it is actually five hours. What do we do? We drink and we bicker. It's very difficult. I knew that going in.

Click here for the rest of the interview.

Click here for Stefan's Website.

Click here to Save a Chef.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

ATC Love to Chef Stefan Richter

Chef Richter wanted desperately to get to the finale as he had during his first run on Top Chef. Alas, he came up short of his dream thanks to some really overcooked pork skin. While guest judge Curtis Stone could appreciate this European approach to the protein, Tom and the other judges would have none of it. Also, his ravioli with eel and parsnip filling had too much parsnip and not enough of the critical surf ingredient. It seemed like Chef Richter did not come on quite as strongly this season as he had in the past, and therefore his early elimination was not a total surprise.

Posted on AllTopChef.com

TC News and Information 10.31.10

Congratulations to Season 3 contestant Brian Malarkey and his wife, Chantelle, on the birth of their twins, Sailor and Miles. (Looks like Brian's still sporting the hats.)

Stefan Richter is still swaggering and swearing, according to this LA Times interview with him (and his girlfriend), which says he will be opening a restaurant in Finland, where he claims he's a superstar.

Stefan will also be appearing with Season 1's Candice Kumai (who now has a show on TLC) at a benefit for the National Kidney Foundation November 7 in LA.

And congrats to Season 1 finalist Tiffani Faison for her current restaurant, Rocco, making Boston Magazine's Top 50 restaurant list, as well as for her participation in the Project Trevor/It Gets Better Project, pulling together a benefit at Rocco shortly after returning from filming the upcoming TC All-Stars season. More on the event from the Huffington Post here.

Eater.com thinks it has uncovered an update on Season 7 winner's Michael Voltaggio's new restaurant.

Sam Talbot is "stoked" for November tastings in anticipation of his new Soho resto at the Mondrian opening in February.

And Top Chef Masters Season 2 winner Marcus Samuelsson will offer a preview dinner of his much-anticipated, but still not open, restaurant, Red Rooster Harlem, on November 15.

To leave you with a bit of Halloween cheer, want to know what judge Eric Ripert dresses up as? Click here, where he reminds us that cooking is not heart surgery.

And darn if I didn't just have an 11th hour thought for a costume I would get a kick out of wearing.

Happy Halloween!

TC News & Information 7.7.10

Top Chef 6's Mike Isabella is leaving Zaytinya to open his own place.

Read about Tom Colicchio's testimony in front of the House of Representatives here.

If you blinked, you missed him...catch Stefan Richter in his cameo on Entourage here.

Top Chef guest judge Tony Bourdain has been touring recently and reader Intuitive Eggplant had the opportunity to hear him speak. Read her take on the evening here.

(Thanks to Sharon for the links!)

TC News & Information 6.21.2010

Season 7 cheftestant Andrea Curto-Randazzo has a few words she'd like to share with Padma and the judges after episode one.

Season 6 finalist Kevin Gillespie is a favorite of bears everywhere and now even more so after giving an interview to A Bear's Life magazine. See some pics from the magazine here.

Catch season 5 finalist Stefan Richter on the June 27th season premiere of HBO's Entourage!

Top Chef 7 debuted to poor ratings. :(

Season 4 finalist Richard Blais is all steamed up about something. Read more here.

TC News & Information - Recipe Edition

Top Chef season 4 cheftestant Spike Mendelsohn was on The View recently preparing specialties from is Washington DC restaurant, Good Stuff Eatery, and his new cookbook. You can see the video here, and if you want the recipes for the Obama Burger, Michelle's Melt, and the Toasted Marshmallow Shake, click here.

Top Chef DC cheftestant Andrea Curto-Randazzo supplies us with a recipe for a delicious-sounding "Summer Peach & Aged Manchego Cheese Stuffed Pork Chop with Mushroom Ragout and Port Wine Reduction" here.

Season 5 finalist Stefan Richter puts bleu cheese on his pastrami sandwich. Not only that, he puts ketchup and mayo on it. What other scary non-traditional steps does he take? Check out his recipe here.

How about a somewhat more-traditional recipe: Bryan Voltaggio's Mom's Crab Cakes.

And doesn't this recipe from Stephanie Izard for bread pudding with fresh ricotta and apples sound yummy?

TC News & Information 5.2.2010

The Huffington Post has a chat with Top Chef Masters competitor Jody Adams.

Eater has a recap of last week's LA Times Festival of Books which featured Top Chef alums Stefan Richter, CJ Jacobsen, Antonio Lofaso, Betty Fraser, and Dave Martin, as well as Top Chef Masters two-time competitor Mark Peel.

Project Foodie has a short interview with TCM's Wylie Dufresne.

Speaking of Wylie Dufresne, his restaurant wd-50 was named one of the 50 Best Restaurants in the World by S. Pellegrino. Congratulations, Chef Dufresne! Read the full list here.

Congratulations go to Bryan Voltaggio as well, for winning the 2010 Chef of the Year Award from the Restaurant Association of Maryland. Next up - a James Beard award?

TC News & Information 3.24.10

What's Stefan Richter been up to recently? Opening restaurants and flirting, of course. Read a new interview with him here.

There will be lots of familiar faces at the upcoming Pebble Beach Food & Wine event, April 8 - 11, including Top Chef Masters Graham Eliot Bowles, Michael Chiarello, Hubert Keller, Roy Yamaguchi, Tim Love, and Jonathan Waxman, former Top Chef judges Tyler Florence, Ming Tsai, Wolfgang Puck, Rick Tramonto, Gale Gand, Thomas Keller, and Jacques Pepin, and cheftestants Jamie Lauren, Fabio Viviani, Carla Hall, and Hosea Rosenberg. For more information, visit http://www.pebblebeachfoodandwine.com/.

Richard Blais claims he's not a molecular gastronomist.

Season 4 cheftestant Valerie Bolon is hosting a Culinary Speakeasy. Click here for more information.

TC News & Information 2.17.2010

Jennifer Carroll will be the honorary chair of this year's Share Our Strength Taste of the Nation culinary fund-raiser at Philadelphia's Loews Hotel on June 21.

Advance admission is $85 and it's $95 at the door -- or $40 more for a VIP admission that gets you an extra hour of feeding time. Tickets can be purchased here.

Access Atlanta spoke to Kevin Gillespie on life after Top Chef.

Not new news, but Eater LA reports that Stefan Richter has taken on a second LA-area restaurant. And Tom Colicchio has transformed his Manhattan outpost of Craft Steak into Colicchio and Sons.

A Top Chef Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday for most Americans. It's a time to get together with family and enjoy great company and lots and lots of food. We posed two questions to Top Cheftestants from all 6 seasons: What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? and What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory? Here are the answers we got back....

What is your favorite Thanksgiving Dish?

Michael Voltaggio: When I'm cooking, I break turkeys down whole and cook them sous vide, and you can quote me on this, I serve turkey that's not dry.
Fave Thanksgiving dish to eat: I love stuffing - any kind of stuffing. I don't eat it thorughout the year, only on Thanksgiving.

Bryan Voltaggio: I love pumpkin pie or pumpkin custard. I wait until Thanksgiving. I never eat it any other time of the year.

Season 1's Stephen Asprinio: Caramelized Pumpkin with Guanciale, Pecans, Sage-Brown Butter & Pecorino Romano

Season 4 champ Stephanie Izard: my favorite thanksgiving dish is green bean casserole! can not live without it! and i love to have a tasty suckling pig instead of turkey :)

Season 5 finalist Stefan Richter: Gravy, dark meat and stuffing

Season 4's Nikki Cascone: My favorite dish is the simplist thing my mom made year after year my entire life.. Candied Yams. I alwasy get one whole tray she makes just for me and I feed on it for a week!! I am a pretty healthy eater so I love Thanksgiving becasue it is glutonous and glorious for food memories. My mom made those candoed yams smothered in brown sugar, butter and LOTS of mini MARSHMALLOWS. With all of my cooking experience I have learned to lighten up the dish a little when I prepare it but for the most part I dont change a thing!! and I have one other very crazy thing I love about Thanksgiving besides the time spent with family..jellied cranberry sauce right from the can! I love, love, love it but I only eat it on thanksgiving and very often right along side the FRESH cranberry sauce that I make!

What is your favorite Thanksgiving memory?

Michael: When I first started working in the kitchen when I was 15, I was helping make the big Thanksgiving buffet and they made me dress up like a pilgrm. I don't know if it's my favorite, but it's one that stands out...maybe it's more of a traumatizing experience.

Bryan: The last time in 2001 or 2002, it was the last time Michael, Staci (their sister) and I were with our mother for Thanksgiving. We're normally never in the same state, or kitchen.

Stephen: Cooking with my grandmother for the first time on Thanksgiving Day

Stephanie Izard: my best memory was at my aunt nancy's house. my sister decided to make a baked brie which she poured liquor over before placing in the oven to bake...bad idea. when she opened up the oven to take a peak, a huge flame burst out and singed quite a bit of her curly hair. priceless moment. i could not stop laughing, the nice sister that i am.

Stefan Richter: I got laid for the first time on Thanksgiving.

Nikki Cascone: I have a very large family so the best memories I have are the ones where the most of us make it under one roof!

Bonus Wine Tip from Stephen: When selecting a wine for Thanksgiving, go American with the wine we can call our own, California Zinfandel. If your looking for a killer Zin at a reasonable price point, check out Ravenswood, Seghesio or Renwood.

TC News & Information 11.24.2009

Stefan Richter offers up some...interesting...Thanksgiving tips to Marie Claire magazine.

Time Magazine looks into the Schwan's frozen Top Chef dinners....

I'm Not Here to Make Friends has a podcast with Eli Kirschstein.

Art Smith is getting his own show on TLC. Read about it here.

According to this article, Bryan Voltaggio is on a wine label. If anyone can get a hold of a bottle of International Sommelier Conspiracy vino, I'm sure we'd all be interested to see.... ETA: ATC reader Lauren T points out that an image has been procured. Click here to see.

TC News & Information 10.25.2009

Brian Malarkey is opening his own restaurant in San Diego's Gaslamp Quarter. Read more about it here.

Want to date Stefan Richter? He's up for grabs, especially if you are organized, clean, and like to drink.

Hosea Rosenberg is the grand marshal for the University of Colorado's homecoming parade.

Salon has a very funny take on the dynamic between the Brothers Voltaggio.

TC News & Information 10.16.09

LAist has an article on the culinary adventures of Stefan Richter.

Top Chef 5 champ Hosea Rosenberg is named in this list of Denver's Top Ten reality stars.

Want to go to the 2010 Food and Wine Classic in Aspen? You can if you're the Grand Prize winner of Pama Pomegranate Liqueur's recipe contest, judged by former Top Cheftestants Spike Mendelsohn, Lee Ann Wong, and Jeff McInnis. Details can be found at http://www.facebook.com/pamaliqueur

DC area chefs Mike Isabella and Bryan Voltaggio will be duking it out at the Capital Food Fight 2009, November 11th. Carla Hall and former judge Ted Allen will also be on hand. For more info, click here.

TC News & Information 10.7.09

The Ahwahnee, in scenic Yosemite Valley, CA, announced the lineup for its 25th annual Chefs' Holidays event series. The event will bring together 29 prominent American chefs and culinary professionals in a wintertime celebration that includes a series of eight sessions from January 10 to February 4, 2010. Participating will be Top Cheftestants Ariane Duarte, Carla Hall, and Ryan Scott, and Top Chef Masters competitors Elizabeth Falkner and Christopher Lee. For more information, click here.

But first comes Taste of Atlanta, on the 10th and 11th of October, where you'll find Carla Hall and Richard Blais. Click here for details.

If any of our readers attends any of the events we list here on All Top Chef, we'd love if you could provide a field report!

Grubstreet is just plain wrong.

Stefan Richter needs a "hot female bartender." Presumably to tend bar.

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.

TC News & Information

Congratulations to Tom Colicchio and Lori Silverbush on the August 1st birth of son Luka Bodhi!


In other news:

Here's a first glimpse at TC5s Stefan Richter's new restaurant, Stefan's at LA Farm.

Publisher's Weekly has a short piece on TC5s Fabio Viviani's Cafe Firenze Cookbook.

TC News & Information

Yuck or yum? TCM's Ludo Lefebvre cooks up some foie gras cupcakes.

Top Chef has received six Emmy nominations!

Dine LA has a Q&A with Top Chef Master Michael Cimarusti.

TC5's Stefan Richter is jumping on the knork bandwagon. What the heck is a knork, you ask? Check it out here.

Here's the weekly Top Chef Masters podcast from Creative Loafing.

Elizabeth Falkner writes about her experience on Top Chef Masters.

TC News & Information

Is TCM's Ludo Lefebvre annoying?

Diana Takes a Bite describes her experience at Lefebvre's restaurant, Ludo Bites.

Eater LA has breaking news about TC5's Stefan Richter's new restaurant.

Boulder Restaurant Examiner takes a look into the kitchen of chef Lachlan MacKinnon Patterson.

Here's a Miami Herald review of Top Chef Masters.

TC5's Gene Villiatora is popping up again in this interview.

YumSugar spoke to TC5 victor Hosea Rosenberg at the recent Aspen Food & Wine Festival.

Bake a pie for the NY Theatre Experiment! TC1s Dave Martin will be a guest judge, along with Project Runway's Kara Janx. Details here.

Here's an interview with TC2 hottie Sam Talbot.

TC News & Information

TC5s Stefan Richter offers his Father's Day menu.

Gail Simmons stands up for Toby Young.

Eater gives us a 37-word recap of Top Chef Masters episode 2, plus some of their favorite Wylie Dufresne quotes.

And here's an interview with episode 2 winner Suzanne Tracht.

TC News & Information

Carla Hall, Fabio Viviani, and Jeff McInnis spoke to Entertainment Weekly about their future plans.

Richard Blais uses Cap'n Crunch on the Top Chef tour.

Grub Street posted part of an interview with everyone's favorite Finn, Stefan Richter.

Fabio Viviani is William Shatner's personal chef? That's what it says here.