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The Chefs/Cheftestants of Top Chef


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I was hoping that Gregory Gourdet, a runner-up last or the previous season, would garner a nod this year.  He's in a tough field, though, as his specialty is Asian cooking, and there are so many fine restaurants with Asian chefs.

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This year's James Beard semi-finalists are out, and there are a few Top Chef alums (and Isaac from the current season) on the list.

I hope all the chefs who shat on Bev during her season send her a bouquet.

 

But there must be some sort of mistake.  Phillip's not on that list.

 

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If anyone gets Create, the food, craft and travel channel from PBS, they carry Hubert Keller's cooking show, along with John Besh and Lidia Bastianich.

Edited by Julia
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James Beard 2016 Finalists:

 

Amongst the TC alums are these finalists for Best Chef:

Karen Akunowicz (Northeast)

Isaac Toups (South)

Kevin Gillespie, Edward Lee (Southeast)

 

Amongst TCM alums (and I'll throw in TNICA as well):

Marco Canora, Anita Lo, Jonathan Waxman (NYC)

Michael Cimarusti, Dominique Crenn (West)

 

Please add on to this if I have missed someone.

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Marcus Samuelsson and Cindy Pawlcyn were on TCM, Rick Bayliss' Topolobampo is getting something, and Leah Chase, Susann Goin and the guys from Animal were judges, if that counts.

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Justin Devillier of Top Chef New Orleans is also a finalist. I think he made it a bit past the halfway point in his season, but I can't remember exactly how far, since it's been a while. His restaurant is probably our favorite in the city (which is a tough call to make down here).

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I wouldn't really call BDK "world cusine" it's pretty typical American.

 

It was.  It was a prime example of restaurant design ruining the dining experience.  They stripped every bit of sound-absorbing material out, put down tiles on the floor, and crammed the tables so close together that you ended up talking to the people at adjacent tables.  You couldn't have paid me to return.

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Wasn't sure if this was the right thread to put this in, so correct me if I'm wrong . . .

Justin, from Top Chef New Orleans won his James Beard award for best chef: south. James Beard Awards

Also, judge John Besh's protege, Alon Shaya, took one of the big ones for best new restaurant. It would be interesting to see if he ever competes on Top Chef; I imagine with all he has going on here he'd be too busy.

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As I was whooping about Joanne Chang (I love her and want to live at her Flour bakery) winning James Beard Outstanding Baker, I noticed a bit about Karen:

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She also plans a second act with Myers and Karen Akunowicz, executive chef at Myers + Chang, in Cambridge (and recent Top Chef competitor).

Here is a pic of Karen with Joanne at the gala.  They both look lovely, and somewhat color-coordinated. 

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Apropos of nothing, but I realized recently that whenever Anthony Bourdain does a Chicago stop on one of his various shows, he always works in a visit with Stephanie and is nothing but sincerely complimentary about her.  It makes me happy to see him firmly supportive of her win and post-Top Chef career, since probably a lot of people bought the narrative that Richard only lost by "choking."  It  didn't hurt Stephanie, but she always seemed a great chef on her own merits, and I was so thrilled she won.

If someone as cantankerous as Bourdain can sing her praises, I think that says a lot. 

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Isaac Toups is opening a second New Orleans' restaurant, which will feature cuisine of the "whole south."
http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/food_restaurants/article_a382de9c-5fe4-11e6-a7d1-1f25d98defa8.html
 

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The Cajun chef Isaac Toups went national last year, with an extended run on Bravo’s “Top Chef.” Now he’s headed to Central City with a new restaurant planned for the Southern Food & Beverage Museum.  His new restaurant is called Toups South and it’s slated to open in October, taking over a restaurant and bar space that is an integral part of the museum on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard.  It will be the second restaurant for Isaac and Amanda Toups, who run Toups’ Meatery in Mid-City.  “The Meatery will always be about contemporary Cajun, while Toups South will take in more flavors from the larger region, from the whole South,” said Isaac Toups.

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Well, without hope and others willing to give Paul a chance to keep his word, he may very well relapse, possibly several times, until he works out his inner demons that keep feeding his addiction. He has tremendous talent and I hope he'll come to terms with it, accept it and let it shine on its own.

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In regards to Paul and his addictions, he may want to remove himself from the restaurant scene completely for a few years until he maintains sobriety for a long period of time. It's too high stress and drug use runs rampant in restaurants.  It's just too much temptation to fall back into the same habits.  

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Had lots of Top Chef sightings last week.

We had dinner at an outdoor table at one of Paul Kahan's (frequent judge) restaurants, which is next to Stephanie Izard's new place (Duck, Duck Goat) and she walked by pushing her son in a stroller. Her place is red hot-2 hour wait on a random Wednesday night in the middle of the summer!

A few night later, we ate at Ema, CJ's new restaurant in Chicago. http://emachicago.com/.  Food was quite good and he is working the room a lot and even brought out a couple of our dishes-small plates place so there are lots of dishes...literally and figuratively. The vegetable dishes were very strong as were the fish dishes.

Edited by AriAu
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Picked up on this on their twitter feeds.

The Resort at Paws Up (in Greenough, Montana) is hosting Wildflavor ("Where flora, fauna and flavor collide"), April 20-23. Featured at the event:  Kristen Kish, Sam Talbot, Casey Thompson and Brooke Williamson. It sounds as if they will having cook-out challenges.
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39 minutes ago, Souris said:

Some Top Chef & Top Chef Masters alums among the 2017 James Beard semifinalists. I spotted Kevin Gillespie, Nick Elmi & John Tesar from TC. Wouldn't be surprised if I missed some, since it was a quick scan.

Sarah Gruenberg and Ed Lee from TC Texas,  Nina Compton TC: New Orleans, and Isaac Toups TC: California are also on the list. 

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I thought it has been noted that Tesar was separated form his wife, Tracy. The D-Magazine article is old news. It has also been noted that he is no longer the same person reported in that article. It might be an idea to move on.

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I'm confused about the timing of all of this, because Radar Online (eww, I know, but they have links to the police documents) posted a story in December of 2016 that John Tesar had been arrested in December of 2015 for bodily family violence against his "employee and girlfriend". So what was his wife doing at Charleston???

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 Cooksdelight or anyone else, does anyone know what happened to Susan Feniger's "new" gastropub in LA?  The article mentions it, but the menu says CLOSED.  It sounded wonderful to me, and I was all ready to head for it.  Susan is so talented and inventive.

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1 hour ago, Snarklepuss said:

YES!  Phillip (man bun), Howie, Stefan, Josie, Katsuji, Marcel, etc., etc.....

Leave Stefan off the list!!! :P  He is just a European with very dry sense of humor.  You could tell he cared about the other contestants in his original season despite his talking heads.  

Also the last time we saw him he was going back home to take care of his elderly mom. That alone is worth 1,000,000 counter-jerk points.

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23 hours ago, hatchetgirl said:

I swear to god, if I ever see John again, will personally hunt him down and strangle him.  I hate him.  He's a total punk.  I would have totally sabotaged him.  And John, dang it, wear a dang headband so every meal isn't sweat soaked.  I saw seat splash in every dish he cooked! Way more disgusting than reusing the spoon.  *shudder John sweat

http://www.guidelive.com/food-and-drink/2017/02/15/how-former-rageaholic-john-tesar-top-chef-finale-bravo-mr-nice-guy

http://dallas.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/02-17-17-top-chef-john-tesar-finale-episode-12/

;-)

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3 hours ago, chiaros said:

Nope, he's not changed a bit, as evidence in the challenge where they had to pirate their way through the city and then cook. He DID tell that guy to Cook with shit ingredients, he didn't admit it and the wrong chef went home.  

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At least I know that I started out the season with an open mind about John.  That I've changed my mind entirely isn't my fault; John himself did it to me.  When I saw that when the chips were down, John reverted to his old ways, I was finished caring what happened to him.  He appears to be quite intelligent, but one of John's failings is that he forgot to have a personality transplant.

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On 2/21/2017 at 6:14 AM, DarkRaichu said:

Leave Stefan off the list!!! :P  He is just a European with very dry sense of humor.  You could tell he cared about the other contestants in his original season despite his talking heads.  

Also the last time we saw him he was going back home to take care of his elderly mom. That alone is worth 1,000,000 counter-jerk points.

Oh I only included him because a lot of people didn't like him.  I actually liked him myself!

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