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The Chefs/Cheftestants of Top Chef


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Oh my god, my PVR recorded "Knife Strife!"  This is the episode of "Chopped" that Dawn was on!!!!  It aired twice on the Food Network on Canada on Tuesday.  If I had known I would have warned everyone!!  I'm watching it now...... 

She looks gorgeous... obviously.

The first round is an appetizer round and is only 20 minutes.  She's trying to make a risotto which already makes me nervous because I think that's a notorious dish on Food Network because nobody gets it right.

Oh my god, Dawn plated the first round!  She didn't forget anything.  I'm shocked.

Oh my god, they love Dawn's dish!  Except for the burnt sausages.  I'm impressed.  

She's made it through to the next round.

Second round.

Spoiler

Ok.  Dawn forgot to or couldn't plate the popcorn, one of the mandatory 4 ingredients.  I assume she's toast, here!

Ahhhhhhh.  She's done.

 

Edited by Ms Blue Jay
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The Voltaggio brothers have a new show, Battle of the Brothers, on FN.  The first episode was last night and I thought it was pretty good.  Much of it seemed unscripted.  Eric Adjepong was one of the judges and he was good too. 

This show as originally advertised was going to be on Discovery+.  I've noticed that several shows promoted that way have shown up on regular TV.  I wonder if that means Discovery+ isn't succeeding as planned.

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3 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

The shows that are D+ exclusives run on D+, and then when the season's over, they run on the cable channels.   Some run on both. 

I do know that but I thought that one of the original selling points for D+ was content not available without it.   There are shows like that on D+ but, if I didn't have it and wanted to watch something I knew was going to be free in a few weeks, I might have patience rather than pay.  

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On 8/16/2021 at 4:32 PM, mlp said:

The Voltaggio brothers have a new show, Battle of the Brothers, on FN.  The first episode was last night and I thought it was pretty good.  Much of it seemed unscripted.  Eric Adjepong was one of the judges and he was good too. 

This show as originally advertised was going to be on Discovery+.  I've noticed that several shows promoted that way have shown up on regular TV.  I wonder if that means Discovery+ isn't succeeding as planned.

Just saw Eric Adjepong on an episode of Chopped!  He looked so familiar to me but I have no idea where I've already seen him.

Spoiler

He was the runner up.

 

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50 minutes ago, Ms Blue Jay said:

Just saw Eric Adjepong on an episode of Chopped!  He looked so familiar to me but I have no idea where I've already seen him.

He came in third on Top Chef two seasons ago.

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Couple of TC chefs will be participating in the Unstripped Las Vegas food festival.

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Just a few of the familiar names: John Arena of Metro Pizza, Justin Kingsley Hall of Main St. Provisions, Brian Howard of Sparrow + Wolf, Bruce Kalman of Soulbelly BBQ, Gina Marinelli of La Strega, Marc Marrone of Graffiti Bao, Gio Mauro of Pizzeria Monzu, Jamie Tran of the Black Sheep and James Trees of Esther’s Kitchen and Al Solito Posto.

 

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Melissa King learned English watching Sesame Street, now she's helping introduce the first Asian-American Muppet.

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Q. What was it like? 

A. Oh my gosh, it was the best day of my life. And I'm not even joking. Being able to interact with Cookie Monster, Elmo and Ji-Young. I got teary and emotional throughout it. And it was also incredible to see just how many Asians are part of (the) behind the scenes of it all, from the producers to the puppeteers. It was a really moving experience to just join together as a community and to be a part of an experience that is really all about representation and showing how important representation can be.

 

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Chef Kwame Onwuachi's New Nail Polish Can Stand the Heat of the Kitchen

 

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For Onwuachi, it all started with his nieces. “I was taking care of my nieces and they begged me to get their nails done,” he remembers. “I got my nails done alongside them. I got all black and afterward I thought, Okay this is pretty cool—it fits my vibe. I just never stopped getting them painted.”

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There’s more to these polishes than just the colors. If you’ve ever cooked with nail polish, you know there’s no faster way to chip a fresh coat of paint. To offset that, Onwuachi chose to release his collaborative polishes in Orly’s Breathable formula, which is water and oxygen permeable. “The main reason why your nail polish chips is because water gets under there and has nowhere to go but through it,” he says. This formula prevents chipping and peeling by keeping the polish from getting waterlogged. “You can definitely cook with it,” he confirms.

The first three colors to drop are pretty, and I might have to give them a try as I love Kwame, cooking, and nail polish!

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21 hours ago, Darian said:

The first three colors to drop are pretty, and I might have to give them a try as I love Kwame, cooking, and nail polish!

I don't love nail polish because it feels heavy on my nails, and chips within hours-- so I'd be willing to give something a try that promises to breathe, and not chip! So I put myself on the waiting list for his polishes.

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On 3/17/2022 at 9:39 PM, ALittleShelfish said:

@PamelaMaeSnap !!!!  Isn't Kwame your fave (one of several, I know!)?!?!?!  

Yes and the polish looks gorgeous!!!!! I’ve promised not to buy ANYTHING (even or especially nail polish) until we’ve moved/unpacked on the other end but it’s tucked away on my mental wishlist!!!!!

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I ordered the eggplant and the silver colors, and I'm pretty stoked. I generally like ORLY, and it would be amazing if they can do even a teeny bit of what he promises.

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Just finished rewatching the Las Vegas season and wondered what happened to Mattin, the young Basque chef who owned a restaurant in San Francisco. (I happen to live just over the bridge, and like Basque food.) Right after TC he sold his restaurant and planned to open... a fitness center? And now he's a realtor in Portland! Apparently his passions changed course.

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Aw, such a bummer. Season 3 holds a soft spot in my heart for some reason, and Howie was a big part of that as he veered between lovable grouch and pain in the ass. He seemed talented, and the charitable acts are a good reminder that reality TV can only capture so much about someone. Total sympathies to his friends and family.

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4 hours ago, Rai said:

Aw, such a bummer. Season 3 holds a soft spot in my heart for some reason, and Howie was a big part of that as he veered between lovable grouch and pain in the ass. He seemed talented, and the charitable acts are a good reminder that reality TV can only capture so much about someone. Total sympathies to his friends and family.

I'll second this.  He was designated that season's villain back when the show needed a villain.  I always felt bad about how he was portrayed.  I read that he died of a heart attack.  His father died of one at only 34.  RIP Howie.

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4 hours ago, caitmcg said:

The NY Times Magazine has a piece on Dawn Burrell by Bryan Washington, with a recipe for creamy collard greens dip. (There’s no paywall on the article if you use that link, but I’m not sure about the recipe.)

There's only access to the article, not the recipe.  But it was a great article; I loved reading all the things she's doing in addition to cooking delicious food:

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But Burrell is also an advocate for women’s health within the restaurant industry. And she’s part of Lucille’s 1913 — a nonprofit that feeds local underserved communities and was founded by Chris Williams, the chef and owner of the restaurant Lucille’s — and their team has broken ground on farmland in the Houston area to provide fresh produce, pushing against food deserts. Within that project, Burrell has helped develop a fermentation lab to minimize food waste; excess food from farms is fermented and pickled before being returned to the community.

“There are not many Black-owned restaurant groups, made up of Black partners and Black chefs,” Burrell says. “So I want to be an integral part of developing our space in that field. I want everyone to be aware that, you know, Black and brown people contribute to fine dining.”

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Antonia was also on Restaurant Startup as a consultant to the contestants.    She was also on Alton Brown's show with the cooking stunts, Cutthroat Kitchen I think it was called.     I love that she's so successful, because she is obviously a great chef, and seems like a nice human being.    I bet there are a lot of people who plan a trip to L.A. to include one of her restaurants.   

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I don't think she knew guy before Top Chef, but she's been on his shows for a long time now.  She was on GGG the longest, sometimes as a contestant and also as a judge. So are many Top Chef alum, nowadays - Michael V, Tiffani, Marcel, Brook, Michael Sasto, Justin Sutherland, Richard Blaise, Shirley Chung, etc.  Although I do think Antonia and Michael V have the most appearances (among Top Chef alums) on his shows. 

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Antonia and Michael V. have been on Guy's Ranch Kitchen a lot.  I'm very jealous of that ranch kitchen.  It's a fun show, in which chefs are cooking for each other a bit informally.  I know Guy is A Lot, but I've never minded him -- a couple of his recipes were a way I got my bland-ish family to eat with a bit more heat.  Also I live in Chicago where his Triple D visits have publicized many businesses.

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That NYT Mag article on Dawn was so interesting as to what she's up to.  I wasn't as interested in the recipe for collard greens dip (I love almost all food but my biggest hang-up is cooked/wilted greens - they make shivers go up my spine).  Superficially, I could not believe that Dawn is 48.  If you told me she was 31 I would buy that completely!  (Obviously I didn't pay attention to her Olympics year.)

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I think you need to subscribe to NYT Cooking (which I do) to read the recipe.

That article is very good but I didn't know Dawn's name was Burrell so when I saw that last name, the person in my head was Anne Burrell. 

So this part of the article really had me scratching my head.

On 8/3/2022 at 4:33 PM, Bastet said:

“There are not many Black-owned restaurant groups, made up of Black partners and Black chefs,” Burrell says. “So I want to be an integral part of developing our space in that field. I want everyone to be aware that, you know, Black and brown people contribute to fine dining.”

Yeah.  Dawn and Anne.  Two very different people. 

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3 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I think you need to subscribe to NYT Cooking (which I do) to read the recipe.

Yeah, I “gifted” the article so it wouldn’t be behind the paywall, but you can’t do that with recipes.

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Last question:  I made a risotto tonight and I think it was fine.  Tom always says that the risotto is supposed to spread on the plate, not make a little lump.  He never explains how this is supposed to happen and at one point I searched the internet for his recipe with no success.  Are you supposed to dump a lot of stock in at the end, when the rice has already absorbed all the liquids it's going to?  That's what I tried tonight and the rice STILL absorbed a lot of stock. Any hints/tricks appreciated.  Anyhoo I think the stock was still real tasty and hope you all have a good weekend!

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I continue to binge the seasons.

Wonder what I was doing during season 13 because I clearly wasn't paying attention! I had ZERO memory of Jeremy, the winner. Not his face, not his stories, not his food. Kept waiting for him to go out because I was so sure he wasn't the winner! Other chefs stuck with me so I know I watched it. One lone thing that did jog my memory was him telling his daughter that second is the first loser, so maybe I just flushed him from my memory banks at that point.

Season 14 was good IMO. The "rookies" had a really tough lift -- these were not simply returning chefs, they were finalists and near-finalists. No Josies in this group. It felt super lopsided. I was rooting for Jim and Sylva.

I just love Sheldon -- there's never been a cheftestant I've liked as much as him. He has a sweetness and humility that is special. He also won serious points in my book for recognizing his wife's voice in the challenge where they had to cook with a loved one without knowing/seeing who it was. He got it right off, and the others remained totally clueless.

It breaks my heart to hear so many chefs talk about how they hope being on Top Chef will finally make their parents proud and/or accepting of their career. Gah. At least it worked out for Shirley -- it was tear-inducing when Shirley's mom asked how to say she was proud of her, in English. It seemed like such a healing process for Shirley. (But my god, her volume/pitch...)

Brooke has a brutal inner critic -- she was convinced that coming in 2nd disappointed her family and friends and that she had to win to make them proud. Oh, Brooke. You were disappointed in yourself, but they were not disappointed in you.

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10 minutes ago, snarktini said:

Wonder what I was doing during season 13 because I clearly wasn't paying attention! I had ZERO memory of Jeremy, the winner. Not his face, not his stories, not his food.

Same -- when Fast Foodies (on which he stars with Kristen Kish and Justin Sutherland) premiered and he was introduced as having won TC, I drew a complete blank even though I was looking right at him.

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19 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Same -- when Fast Foodies (on which he stars with Kristen Kish and Justin Sutherland) premiered and he was introduced as having won TC, I drew a complete blank even though I was looking right at him.

That makes me feel better, thank you!

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Jeremy Ford’s a bit of an empty chef’s coat for me, too, but I just saw somewhere that his restaurant Stubborn Seed earned a Michelin Star. When I think about it I remember his joy at pleasing Hubert Keller. There’s something to be said for being a chef over being a tv character. 

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Richard Blais is doing another free cooking demonstration for a supermarket.

FREE Virtual Event: Make Brunch for Your Bunch with Richard Blais

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Join the fun, refreshing celebrity chef on September 10 at 9:00 a.m. PT/ 12:00 p.m. ET for the can’t-miss event of the season. In this FREE virtual class, Richard will show you how to prep some of his favorite weekend brunch recipes with a little help from his kids. Bring your appetite and prepare to be entertained because these recipes are as delicious as they are fun! You’ll learn how to make:

  • Coconut Milk Mochi Banana Pancakes
  • Avocado Toast Bar
  • Mushroom, Truffle Ham & Cheese Omelet

I wouldn't exactly describe him as 'refreshing'.

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