Top Chef in the Media

[mlp]

9 hours ago, tv echo said:

Top Chef Fan Favorite final round voting has started (voting ends June 19) - final two are Dan and Michelle:

I'd like to see Dan win the show and Michelle win Fan Favorite.  I think she really was while she was active.  I have no idea if her being gone for weeks affects people's opinions.

 

[MerBearHou]

I'm now actually fine with any of this final 3 winning -- I like all 3 and neither one totally outshines the other so it's a toss-up for me.  Michelle is FOR SURE my Fan Favorite so fingers crossed there.

[kirklandia]

We have had a few Top Chef All-Stars seasons, perhaps it's time for an All-Time Favorite Fan Favorite contest?

(Voting for Shota😍)

 

[tv echo]

Top Chef Recap: Buddha Lo Recognizes Those Reactions from the Judges: 'Not Good'
By Buddha Lo   June 13, 2024
https://people.com/top-chef-recap-episode-13-buddha-lo-recognizes-those-reactions-from-judges-8662717 

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The chefs overall cooked some interesting dishes with what they were given. If I were doing this challenge, I would have cooked my fish and served it with a sauce made from the whey of the gouda cheese. Dan came out on top for the final Quickfire — his first Quickfire win of the season!
*  *  *
As the winner of the previous Elimination Challenge, Savannah got to choose her two fish first — raw salmon and fried striped bass. Savannah had been cooking great ever since the indigenous challenge (episode 9) but the choices she made in this episode almost felt like those made by a completely different chef. What made me more confused is that Savannah works in a restaurant based on tempura so ultimately this challenge should have been in her wheelhouse. Instead, her raw course was a sake-cured salmon futomaki roll, salmon tartare, twice-fried plantain with a creamy ginger dressing, while her fried course was striped bass, pepper kosho and aji Amarillo aioli. 
*  *  *
Overall, the judges were puzzled by the level of food the chefs served in this challenge. I have seen these reactions and facial expressions before and it's not good. This is when the chefs need to show the world why they deserve to be the next Top Chef. Unfortunately, there were a lot of mistakes and uninspired plates.

[Rammchick]

https://www.salon.com/2024/06/11/top-chef-frontrunner-dan-jacobs-on-cooking-with-kennedys-disease--both-on-and-off-the-show/

 

[ZettaK]

13 minutes ago, tv echo said:

Top Chef Recap: Buddha Lo Recognizes Those Reactions from the Judges: 'Not Good'
By Buddha Lo   June 13, 2024
https://people.com/top-chef-recap-episode-13-buddha-lo-recognizes-those-reactions-from-judges-8662717 

It's extremely disappointing. At this level of the competition the contestants should present perfect dishes like in the past. Those four didn't- everybody had issues.

[tv echo]

Tom Colicchio, Kristen Kish and all 3 finalists were at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which took place this weekend (June 14-16)... 

Top Chef Finalists Reveal Their ‘Surprising’ Behind-the-Scenes Moments Before Season 21 Finale (Exclusive)
Chefs Danny Garcia, Dan Jacobs and Savannah Miller spoke to PEOPLE during the 2024 ‘Food & Wine’ Classic in Aspen
By Sabrina Weiss   June 15, 2024
https://people.com/top-chef-finalists-bts-food-wine-classic-aspen-8664039 

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For Miller, receiving "tough" feedback on her cooking was one she learned to appreciate. "They were just brutally honest with us and, looking back, I think it was great. It was all constructive, and made me better," she says. "It was really good to confirm that it's as real as it looks on TV."

Jacobs adds: "When we got negative feedback, we then had to flip that around very quickly and put ourselves in a positive place where we tried to have fun, be able to compete at a high level and not let that linger with you. The most surprising to me was how mentally challenging the whole thing was."

Knowing the competition would be fierce, the finalists say they each prepared for their season in their own ways. Garcia recalls doing practice Quickfire challenges in his New York City restaurant, Jacobs searched for the perfect knife bag ("Seriously, I went out shopping for a while," he says) and Miller memorized exactly how many grams went into her "greatest hits" recipes.
*  *  *
"I remember we were told, 'You're leaving in three weeks.' It felt so soon and I was thinking, 'Oh, I need to get my ducks in a row,'" says Garcia, who is along with Jacobs and Miller, cooked for guests at the Food & Wine Classic's opening night party on June 13.
*  *  *
Miller reveals all the contestants keep in touch through a group chat aptly named “21, Can Ya Do Something For Me?" after the Drake and 21 Savage lyric in “Rich Flex.” Garcia says the chat is “very, very, very, very active” and Jacobs says it's “supportive too.”

Much of the group's bonding came while the cameras weren't rolling, while the cast was hanging out on set between challenges or evenings at their Milwaukee residence. They watched all the Saw movies — “We always kept a light on because there is always someone saying, ‘I don’t like scary movies’,” says Garcia — or played Monopoly and practiced magic tricks.

“There were times that we couldn’t talk. But you can only write notes to yourself for so long before you’re like, ‘Okay, here’s a game of hangman,’” Garcia says.

Other Top Chef talent at this Food & Wine Classic included:  Stephanie Izard, Gregory Gourdet, Shota Nakajima, Kwame Onwuachi and Claudette Zapeda.

According to the Food & Wine Classic's schedule: 

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FRIDAY, JUNE 14
*  *  *
... 10:00 am - 11:00 am Fruit Flex: Two Top Chefs Unlock the Savory Magic of Fruit   Shota Nakajima & Stephanie Izard ...
*  *  *
... 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Summer Sizzle: Upgrade Your Grill Game With Spice Rubs, Marinades, and Glazes   Gregory Gourdet ...
*  *  *
... 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Cooking Competition Confessional: Behind The Scenes   Stephanie Izard, Shota Nakajima, Claudette Zepeda  Moderated by Maneet Chauhan ...
*  *  *
SATURDAY, JUNE 15

... 10:00 am - 11:00 am Second Act Snacks: How One Top Chef Reinvents Retro Comfort Foods   Kristen Kish ...
*  *  *
SUNDAY, JUNE 16

... 10:00 am - 11:00 am In The Kitchen with Bravo’s Top Chef   Bravo’s Top Chef Season 21 Cheftestants   Hosted by Kristen Kish ...

Edited Sunday at 01:11 PM by tv echo

[tv echo]

Tom Colicchio Reveals What The Bear Gets Right (and Wrong!) About Working in a Restaurant (Exclusive)
By Sabrina Weiss  June 15, 2024 
https://people.com/tom-colicchio-the-bear-top-chef-food-wine-classic-aspen-8663987 

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“What they really get right is the tension — especially during service — and they show you how things can go wrong,” says Colicchio, who spoke to PEOPLE on June 14 at the annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.
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“The tension that you feel in the kitchen, the nerves, that's all real,” says the Top Chef judge, referring to a volatile scene in season 2 when ticket orders stream into the kitchen faster than the team can handle. "That happens.”
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However, the chef says there are a few aspects of the scripted series that “bug” him.

“There's a couple of things that I look at and go, ‘That would never happen,’” says Colicchio, who will reunite with his fellow Gramercy Tavern alumni at a pop-up dinner event at the Food & Wine Classic to celebrate the restaurant's 30th anniversary.

“If you're a chef and you're opening up a restaurant, there is no way you're letting your sous chef write the menu. It's not going to happen! That's the only thing I kind of shake my head at," he says.
*  *  *
“I don't watch any cooking shows, really. I don't watch reality cooking, I don't watch anything on the Food Network,” he says.

When asked whether he watches his own series, he was adamant in his answer. “I certainly don't want to watch myself,” says the chef, who will appear on the season finale of Top Chef on Wednesday, June 19.. “And my kids have no desire to watch it at all.”

Edited 22 hours ago by tv echo

[tv echo]

Top Chef won the Critics Choice Real TV Award for Best Culinary Show...

Critics Choice Real TV Awards 2024: See the Full List of Winners
By Nicholas Rice   June 16, 2024
https://people.com/critics-choice-real-tv-awards-2024-winners-8663479 

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Best Culinary Show
Be My Guest With Ina Garten (Food Network)
The Great British Baking Show (Netflix)
MasterChef Junior (Fox)
Next Level Chef (Fox)
Selena + Restaurant (Food Network)
Top Chef (Bravo) -- WINNER

[BoffoDaWonderSheep]

ML89 above shared a youtube link to Kévin D'Andrea‘s Breaking Baguettes show. It’s fun and worth watching. All five episodes are now also on Peacock. It’s him interviewing current and former Olympians (and they also interview him), then cooking with them. NBC is producing it as part of their Paris Olympics coverage.  Kévin is very affable and has a good rapport with the athletes. I hope he’ll have more hosting duties in the future. 

[pally]

11 hours ago, tv echo said:

Tom Colicchio, Kristen Kish and all 3 finalists were at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen, which took place this weekend (June 14-16)... 

Top Chef Finalists Reveal Their ‘Surprising’ Behind-the-Scenes Moments Before Season 21 Finale (Exclusive)
Chefs Danny Garcia, Dan Jacobs and Savannah Miller spoke to PEOPLE during the 2024 ‘Food & Wine’ Classic in Aspen
By Sabrina Weiss   June 15, 2024
https://people.com/top-chef-finalists-bts-food-wine-classic-aspen-8664039 

Other Top Chef talent at this Food & Wine Classic included:  Stephanie Izard, Gregory Gourdet, Shota Nakajima, Kwame Onwuachi and Claudette Zapeda.

According to the Food & Wine Classic's schedule: 

I wonder how Danny is doing today.  The chef he has listed in his bio as his mentor, James Kent, died unexpectedly yesterday.  He was only 45 

[caitmcg]

1 hour ago, pally said:

I wonder how Danny is doing today.  The chef he has listed in his bio as his mentor, James Kent, died unexpectedly yesterday.  He was only 45 

Here's a NY Times article/obituary about James Kent (that's a gift link).

[Yeah No]

4 hours ago, caitmcg said:

Here's a NY Times article/obituary about James Kent (that's a gift link).

I hate hearing news like this. 😢 One thing, though - he described his upbringing as "poor", although I find it hard to believe that anyone growing up in Greenwich Village in the '90s who lived in the same building with David Bouley could be anywhere near "poor".

[tv echo]

Tom Colicchio Shares His Thoughts on the Top Chef Lionfish Quickfire, Exclusive Interview
By Cristine Struble | Jun 16, 2024
https://foodsided.com/posts/tom-colicchio-top-chef-lionfish-quickfire-exclusive-interview-01j0gyarx35w 

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... After the Top Chef Season 21 lionfish Quickfire in Curacao, Colicchio spoke exclusively to FoodSided and shared his thoughts on both the chefs’ approach to the challenge and the importance of highlighting that particular invasive fish.
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While Tom Colicchio is never afraid to speak the truth about a dish, he said that all four chefs did a good job. As he explained, given the limited 30-minute time frame, raw dishes made sense.  
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When asked what he would have made, Colicchio revealed, “I have no idea what I would do. When I first thought of it, I thought about a crispy cheese. Quite frankly, I would have turned the frico into a taco shell for a fish taco.”

While that taco might have been one approach, Colicchio was quite frank in his approach to his feedback and thought process. He said, “who knows what you would do when you are in the moment. That is why I don’t like playing that game.”

Colicchio said, “when I talk to the chefs and give them feedback, it is not about what I would have done. No one cares about what I would have done. That is irrelevant. We are judging what they did not what I would have done.”

Edited 22 hours ago by tv echo

[tv echo]

Kristen Kish Says Padma Lakshmi 'Formed the Pathway' For Her to Be Top Chef Host (Exclusive)
By Sabrina Weiss   June 16, 2024
https://people.com/kristen-kish-padma-lakshmi-top-chef-food-wine-classic-aspen-8664055 

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“I don't know if I would've been the person to step into that role if she hadn't held it for 19 seasons, and I don't take that lightly,” Kish, 40, tells PEOPLE exclusively during the 2024 Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. “She formed the pathway and the road, and then it was my job to be me and drive down that road. You have to obviously give credit where credit is due.”
*  *  *
Kish says she knew there would be specific challenges stepping into the hosting job. “The hardest part was people's expectation of missing Padma and this idea that I needed to fill a role," she says. "But once I realized that I don't have to fill a role and I didn't have to be her and I have full permission to be me, that's where I kind of settled into it a little bit more."

Despite her struggles with social anxiety and feeling “a lot of pressure on my shoulders put there by me” while shooting season 21, she loved her time hosting.

“As soon as we got done, I was like, ‘Is it next year yet? Go again,’” she says. “Really, it's just a phenomenal experience, not just professionally but personally.”
*  *  *
“Tom, Gail, and I were friends before, but I think it is different now in a really good way. We have fun on-camera and off-camera,” she says, adding that the “seasoned pros” would travel home during their days off from shooting but she stayed in town.

“Being my first season, I just needed to stay mentally in it. Perhaps next season I'll find a little bit more space, but I actually really like living in one place for two months. I got to be familiar with a lot of different things and create a little mini-home for some time,” she says.
*  *  *
When the season wrapped filming and she returned home to her wife Bianca Dusic in Connecticut, Kish says there was one thing she needed to do. 

“Honestly, I ate broccoli for like three days,” she says with a laugh, explaining that her shooting days were full of decadent meals prepared by the contestants and frozen custards from local Wisconsin spots. “I did not have a raw, untouched vegetable in a long time in Milwaukee.”

Edited 22 hours ago by tv echo

[Ancaster]

 https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/about-top-chef-competitor-dan-jacobs

DanDan - "modern Chinese-American concept infused with Midwestern sensibility"

Because when I'm looking for a place to eat this is what I google.

[tessabq]

15 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I hate hearing news like this. 😢 One thing, though - he described his upbringing as "poor", although I find it hard to believe that anyone growing up in Greenwich Village in the '90s who lived in the same building with David Bouley could be anywhere near "poor".

It's possible, maybe not probable, but possible. It depends on How long his family lived in the building and what part of the Village.

David and Karen Watluck, of Chanterelle, lived on the third floor of a brownstone just off Washington Square. 

Their apartment was beautifully appointed and expensive. I lived in the basement apartment with no natural light and tiles falling off the shower walls.  It was cheap, even by 1990 standards. 

Edited 13 hours ago by tessabq

[Yeah No]

9 hours ago, tessabq said:

It's possible, maybe not probable, but possible. It depends on How long his family lived in the building and what part of the Village.

David and Karen Watluck, of Chanterelle, lived on the third floor of a brownstone just off Washington Square. 

Their apartment was beautifully appointed and expensive. I lived in the basement apartment with no natural light and tiles falling off the shower walls.  It was cheap, even by 1990 standards. 

I had a friend who had a genuine rent controlled apartment in the East '60s from the '80s onward.  She never let go of it until last year (who would?) when she finally got married and moved to Florida.  It somehow never had to convert to rent stabilized like most did so her rent was really cheap.  I also knew a woman that lived in a "teacher's co-op" in lower Manhattan that had cheap rent because she was a government employee.  So I guess anything is possible.  Too bad I never had that kind of luck.  I was born in Manhattan but lived the first half of my life in the Bronx.