Top Chef in the Media

[Jextella]

Here is a link to a Top Chef Where are they now kind of thing.   It's dated 2013 and so doesn't cover all seasons but it's got many to browse through.

https://www.thrillist.com/eat/nation/the-ultimate-top-chef-restaurant-guide

I hope Sam's restaurant works out.  Appears he hasn't had good luck - as many have not.  I read that health issues sometimes get in his way.

Edited December 26, 2016 by Jextella

[JeanneH]

In the Taste Testing thread someone mentioned eating at Parachute, Beverly Kim's and John Clark's award-winning (and Beard nominated) restaurant in the Chicago area. That got me looking around, and I found an older Chicago Tribune piece about the financial realities and other issues associated with opening a restaurant. In this case, their subject was Parachute. Fascinating reading. The Top Chef connection of the piece is that in discussing the income of chefs it's mentioned that Beverly was not paid for her time on Top Chef (I thought they were all paid at least something, perhaps appearance fees?)
Opening a restaurant, taking a leap: A look at Parachute's beginning  (Chicago Tribune, May 27, 2014)

[Pickles]

 I never thought the Top Chef contestants got paid anything. That's one more reason you would really, really have to want to be on there. It is a financial sacrifice during those weeks of filming.

[cooksdelight]

They don't get paid, unless they win. 

[Darth Nigel]

23 hours ago, JeanneH said:

Opening a restaurant, taking a leap: A look at Parachute's beginning  (Chicago Tribune, May 27, 2014)

Thanks, JeanneH.  That was a good read, and makes me realize why I would never succeed in the restaurant business (well, other than I can't cook for shit)

[JeanneH]

4 hours ago, Darth Nigel said:

Thanks, JeanneH.  That was a good read, and makes me realize why I would never succeed in the restaurant business (well, other than I can't cook for shit)

Lots of things in that article I never really thought about. I wonder if they intentionally left getting the liquor license so late or if it just takes that long. Ad a quarter million dollars is doing it on the cheap? wow

Forgot to give credit to the article's writer, Kevin Pang.

[HunterHunted]

1 hour ago, JeanneH said:

Lots of things in that article I never really thought about. I wonder if they intentionally left getting the liquor license so late or if it just takes that long. Ad a quarter million dollars is doing it on the cheap? wow

Forgot to give credit to the article's writer, Kevin Pang.

In some places, it can take a really long time. So much depends on the state you live in. There are also local ordinances that come into play too.

I grew up in Pennsylvania. The state grants the licenses, but they have a strict per capita allocation. For example, a town of 50,000 might only be eligible to have 10 restaurants with liquor licenses. If you are planning on opening a restaurant and you want to serve booze, then you better hope that one of the ten is closing or would be willing to sell their license. 

I've learned that in Texas a full liquor license is expensive, but a beer and wine license is fairly cheap. There is an entire industy that sells low alcohol spirits (under 20% alcohol as opposed to 40%) that can be sold along side wine so these restaurants can make cocktails. They have agave wine (tequila substitute), lower alcohol vodka, rum, and gin.

http://www.premiumblend.com/index.php/products/liquor-substitutes

[cooksdelight]

A friend who manages 2 convenience stores, which sell beer and wine, is still waiting on a permanent ABC license to sell after almost a year. She gets temporary permits every few months while waiting on the final one. Nuts!

[Fostersmom]

I don't know if it's true or not, but in Ohio I've heard the liquor license follows the building, not necessarily the owner. There's so many restaurants in my area that open and then close, someone else opens something new there, and then they close just as quick. People always look at these places thinking they will be the one to actually make it work, but yeah, it takes more than the liquor license to make it. The most recent one I've seen, it's right down the road from me, was a restaurant, a different restaurant, a sports bar, a burger bar (I swear that one lasted like 2 months) and a different burger bar that just closed this month… all within the 10 years I've lived in my apartment and most in the last 3 years since the original place closed. I might have missed a few and even though I'm in that plaza all the time, sometimes multiple times a week to do the banking for my job, and it's less than 3 minutes from home, I've never been in there once. I have no doubts something else will open like magic in the new year. Apparently we have no lack of people with money to lose. 

[DarkRaichu]

I miss the weekly episode blogs, especially Hugh's and Gail's :(

They don't even have the "behind the scene" blog by a producer anymore :(

[Jobiska]

Laurel, Sbraga, and Ela on Philadelphia Magazine's most recent top 50 Philly restaurants list

[DavidJSnyder]

1 hour ago, Jobiska said:

Laurel, Sbraga, and Ela on Philadelphia Magazine's most recent top 50 Philly restaurants list

Also ITV, which is Nick's newer bar/restaurant next to Laurel.

[ProudMary]

Exit interview with Silvia Barban:
http://www.sheknows.com/entertainment/articles/1130958/top-chef-season-14-silvia-barban-interview
 

Quote

SK: Was there anyone on the show you really clashed with? Who was it and why?

SB: I clashed with Sylva [Senat] since day one. I didn't have a good feeling with him. In the BBQ challenge, I had some problems working with him.

SK: What's one thing that happened behind the scenes viewers didn't get to see on the show?

SB: Padma [Lakshmi] sometimes spoke to me in Italian. I knew she could speak Italian, but still, it was surprising!

SK: Who do you think deserved to go home on last night’s episode?

SB: Sylva.

[ProudMary]

Esquire Magazine has a fairly lengthy interview posted today with Tom Colicchio where he discusses the Top Chef episode filmed at Boone Hall Plantation along with his activism for food causes. 
http://www.esquire.com/food-drink/q-and-a/a51967/tom-colicchio-top-chef-interview/

[susannot]

That was an excellent interview!  Good for Tom for using his celebrity and his industry contacts to make a positive impact.  Also, I want Trump to answer Tom's question.

[FinnishViewer]

I'm not really knowledgeable about the world of chefs etc. and I did not know about Tom before Top Chef. In terms of fame how well know is Tom compared to people like Gordon Ramsay, or Anthony Bourdain?

[cooksdelight]

I'd never heard of Tom before this show. But his restaurants are quite popular. And he can back up anything he asks the chefs to do. Watching him break down a big fish once was a thing of beauty.

Edited January 5, 2017 by cooksdelight

[dleighg]

I had heard of Tom before I started watching the show. His restaurant Craft made something of a splash when it opened in 2001; I recall it being written about (I live in the NYC metro area and do kind of obsessively read the NY Times dining section).

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/27/dining/restaurants-with-such-scallops-who-needs-free-will.html

[chiaros]

12 hours ago, cooksdelight said:

I'd never heard of Tom before this show. But his restaurants are quite popular. And he can back up anything he asks the chefs to do. Watching him break down a big fish once was a thing of beauty.

IMO I think his expertise tends to be within the worlds of Western/European cuisines. He is on shakier ground with other global cuisines - especially E and SE Asian cuisines. (Ditto, in my view, with his pal José Andrés) Two examples that spring immediately to mind is that duck dish that Ed Cotton did on that "Foreign Affairs" episode on Top Chef DC, and the shrimp-with-tomato-sauce dish that Travis Masar did on that "Captain Vietnam" episode on Top Chef New Orleans.

Ed Cotton's duck was damned and blasted by Tom (and even Gail Simmons) who loudly condemned his non-crispy skin and residual fat, with him and José A. ridiculing it saying it "does not represent China" when they were eating it during the "party". This, despite the fact that the Chinese diplomat at the "party" had declared it "very good, very authentic". And indeed it was - Ed had NOT made a Peking-style roast duck, which was what Tom & Co seemed to be expecting (perhaps, in their view, as emblematic of ALL "Chinese Ducks"?); he had made something along the lines of tea-smoked duck (see 茶熏鴨 also) which would have the slightly rubbery skin and layer of fat that it did, and which really would be EXPECTED to be present by Chinese-origin folks (like me). Ditto many versions of "Roast Duck", including Cantonese roast duck, still the most common form in the Chinatowns of the USA - it would have non-crispy skin with a residual layer of fat in most cases.

Travis Masar was attempting to make a dish he had personally experienced in Vietnam, and was panned by Tom and Co for making an ITALIAN dish, largely because of the tomato sauce in the dish, it seemed. They could not believe that tomatoes would be used in a "real Vietnamese dish", IIRC. Perhaps the taste profile and/or spicing was off, and maybe it did taste somewhat Italianate (I doubt it, because Travis added fish sauce to it, also IIRC) but "shrimp in tomato sauce" IS an actual Vietnamese dish. Tom ought to look up something called tôm sốt cà chua (images) and its variants.

I've said elsewhere that, yes, Tom & Co. are the judges on Top Chef the Reality Game Show and THEY decide what is good or not - and their quirks and tastes are what the cheftestants need to cook for. The issue of salting/seasoning has been discussed here very recently, for example. Even Richard Blais, the much-hated-former-contestant-now-sometimes-judge on this forum, during his first season during that "Wedding Catering" episode, IIRC, declared in a remark to another cheftestant (as shown on TV) that he needed to cook only for the judges, screw the other diners at the party.

The better title for this show ought to be "Who Wants To Cook For Tom Colicchio & Friends". So long as Tom C is the head judge of this show, cheftestants really should also read his book before coming onto the show - the techniques he talks about in his book, for example, may attune cheftestants to what Tom is expecting in his dishes, whatever they may otherwise contain.

Edited January 5, 2017 by chiaros
Added the accent mark for "Andrés"

[ratgirlagogo]

On 1/5/2017 at 2:04 AM, FinnishViewer said:

In terms of fame how well know is Tom compared to people like Gordon Ramsay, or Anthony Bourdain?

Tom has a very big reputation as a chef.  His cooking at the Gramercy Tavern put him on the NYC map and allowed him to open the various iterations of Craft.  Gordon Ramsay had a very solid reputation as a chef which I believe has even survived his trashy TV fame.  Anthony Bourdain by his own admission was never interested in really pushing his way to whatever the top culinary rung might be.  Les Halles makes money, but Bourdain is a celebrity food writer as opposed to a celebrity chef.

While I understand the point chiaros is making, I don't need Tom to be the all-knowing God of the world's cuisines in order to enjoy this show.  I agree that it would be an improvement to make sure there's always a judge with a better knowledge of non-European food - I liked James Oseland on Top Chef Masters for that.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 12/29/2016 at 9:22 PM, JeanneH said:

 That got me looking around, and I found an older Chicago Tribune piece about the financial realities and other issues associated with opening a restaurant. In this case, their subject was Parachute. Fascinating reading.

I couldn't believe their rent was only $1800 a month!  in Chicago!  A lot of restaurants (and small businesses generally) go under in NYC (and I'd imagine elsewhere) because they start out at a manageable monthly rent, and then, once they begin to break even, the landlord raises the rent to whatever they want and the tenant is priced out.

[JeanneH]

On 1/8/2017 at 5:45 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

I couldn't believe their rent was only $1800 a month!  in Chicago!  A lot of restaurants (and small businesses generally) go under in NYC (and I'd imagine elsewhere) because they start out at a manageable monthly rent, and then, once they begin to break even, the landlord raises the rent to whatever they want and the tenant is priced out.

Well, technically they are not in Chicago. They're in the burbs. I'd say they had great timing, coming across the place as the doors weere being locked.

[Vermicious Knid]

NPR's Linda Holmes (Miss Ally!) comments on the episode. She compares this situation to Nick's and how they differ.

She's still mad at Josie for getting Kristin eliminated :).

[Jextella]

On ‎1‎/‎13‎/‎2017 at 9:18 PM, Vermicious Knid said:

NPR's Linda Holmes (Miss Ally!) comments on the episode. She compares this situation to Nick's and how they differ.

She's still mad at Josie for getting Kristin eliminated :).

Thanks for this!  Miss Ally is who got me hooked on TWOP back in the day.  She is an amazing writer and glad to see she's made the leap to more prominent online publications!

[Jobiska]

Though I live in Philly, I didn't remember the news about the fire that destroyed Maison 208.  Poor Sylva.

[cooksdelight]

On 1/19/2017 at 5:28 PM, stewedsquash said:

I was listening to the top of the hour news and heard about a parking space being offered for $74,000. My thought went to NYC or LA or Chicago. Nope, it is this season's own Top Chef Charleston. In the heart of downtown the 100 sq ft space can be had for that amount. Apparently parking is becoming an issue, who would have thought? 

That's crazy. Did this show make someone think they could charge that much for a parking space downtown?? I've never had a problem finding a parking space, either on the street/curbside, or in a parking deck.

[chiaros]

On 1/8/2017 at 5:03 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

While I understand the point chiaros is making, I don't need Tom to be the all-knowing God of the world's cuisines in order to enjoy this show.  I agree that it would be an improvement to make sure there's always a judge with a better knowledge of non-European food - I liked James Oseland on Top Chef Masters for that.

Then perhaps Tom C should temper his pronouncements on food and cultures that he does not have a full grasp of but which he passes judgement on.

Even with "European-based" food, on TC Seattle on that Alaska cruise he was schooled by Curtis Stone on how he was mistaken about his damning of a dish one of the cheftestants brought out, because in Australia (where Curtis is from) the dish would have been how Aussies would have liked it, IIRC.

[ProudMary]

There's a good recap of the last two weeks' episodes (Booty and Restaurant Wars) in the Charleston City Paper.  The writer of the article was a guest at Latitude during the RW episode.  
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/Eat/archives/2017/01/23/two-weeks-of-top-chef-charleston-recaps-in-one-convenient-bite

[dleighg]

Top chef is returning for another season, and will start casting soon. 

http://www.bravotv.com/the-daily-dish/top-chef-renewed-for-season-15-casting-call?cid=soc_dg_fb_TopChef

[cooksdelight]

And guess who's helping....

Spoiler

http://www.guidelive.com/reality-tv/2017/01/24/top-chef-season-15-will-come-dallas-feb-4-look-cheftestants

A nice interview with Jamie

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/entertainment/tv/article126467459.html

[chiaros]

1 hour ago, cooksdelight said:

And guess who's helping....

  Reveal hidden contents

http://www.guidelive.com/reality-tv/2017/01/24/top-chef-season-15-will-come-dallas-feb-4-look-cheftestants

 

Heh. Why not?

[xfuse]

On 2017-01-08 at 6:33 PM, ratgirlagogo said:

While I understand the point chiaros is making, I don't need Tom to be the all-knowing God of the world's cuisines in order to enjoy this show.

I agree he doesn't need to be an expect but the fact that he acts like he is. It's his way or you are totally wrong. It's why I detest him so much.

Wasn't one of his restaurants sued a few years ago because management was taking part of the tips?

Edited January 26, 2017 by xfuse
Hit send while I was still typing

[cooksdelight]

I just saw something that blew my mind (can't share the link), but the contestants on these shows get paid by SAG/AFTRA every time one of their episodes is run. Including reruns.

[Bastet]

Quote

I just saw something that blew my mind (can't share the link), but the contestants on these shows get paid by SAG/AFTRA every time one of their episodes is run. Including reruns.

That would be odd, since the whole point (from producers' standpoint) of classifying reality TV participants as contestants rather than actors is to exempt them from SAG-AFTRA (and all the protections that come from being in that union).

[cooksdelight]

I saw the check from SAG. No lie.

The diners we see in all these shows are paid by SAG as well. If you are a SAG member, you get moved to the top of the list. Non-SAG people are hired, naturally, but an actress friend who has been on several of these shows always gets the call if she applies.

[chiaros]

The application agreements don't mention anything about payments (SAG or otherwise) in all the thousands of words in the 20 pages of it. Would such things - i.e. something along the lines of "if selected to appear, you will also receive xxx" be expected to be in such "agreements" normally?

If they are truly being paid by SAG every time an episode airs, that is, in my mind, further evidence that the show is just a Reality TeeVee Game Show.

[cooksdelight]

Whenever I've applied to be a guest diner, they always ask if I am SAG. The applications we see online are not the full agreements signed by the chefs that appear. The one they sign is many, many pages longer. They would never ever release that to the public or websites for fear of fines.

It is a game show. Nothing more. They know that going in.

Edited January 27, 2017 by cooksdelight

[ratgirlagogo]

Keep in mind that what used to be the Screen Extras Guild is now also part of SAG-AFTRA.  Most of the diners wouldn't be speaking on camera and I'd imagine would be hired as extras.

[cooksdelight]

You have to sign a release to be shown, and yes if you don't say a word you won't get paid what the actors get. :)

The check was from SAG/AFTRA, sorry I left that off.

[dleighg]

Just now, cooksdelight said:

You have to sign a release to be shown, and yes if you don't say a word you won't get paid what the actors get. :)

 

speaking of which, watching this last episode there was this 3 second clip of a woman getting her wine glass filled at the bar. Just "filler."  I *know* if I were at that event somehow that would be my 3 seconds of fame :)

[cooksdelight]

Onset Productions is the company that hires the diners/extras, sign up with them if you're ever in an area where these types of shows are being filmed.

[Lura]

I just read an interesting article by Andy Greenwald on Hollywood Prospectus.  Although he writes his comments based on the Brooke-Kristen final battle in Seattle, he goes on to discuss the show's format, Tom, Padma,the judges, and many of the issues discussed and debated here.  Greenwald doesn't hold back in  expressing his opinions, but whether you agree with him or not, it's good reading.  He even has an opinion about "the best contestant ever" (or the "most successful").

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/the-top-chef-seattle-finale-was-ruined-by-meddlesome-magical-elves/

Edited February 1, 2017 by Lura

[savingsanta]

Remember Mark the Kiwi from season 4?

http://wgntv.com/2017/02/07/top-chef-alum-adds-note-to-receipts-immigrants-make-america-great/

Granted, his restaurant is in Brooklyn, but it's still a gutsy thing to do in the current political climate. Plenty of cheftestants are either immigrants or the children of immigrants, and being in the restaurant business gives them a unique perspective on the impact of immigrant labor to the economy.

[Bastet]

I don't remember him (I even watched the video to see if seeing/hearing him would spark my memory, with no luck), but good for him!  If I lived there, I'd go have a meal in order to register my support.

[biakbiak]

2 hours ago, Bastet said:

I don't remember him (I even watched the video to see if seeing/hearing him would spark my memory, with no luck), but good for him!  If I lived there, I'd go have a meal in order to register my support.

He literally has one of my favorite lines ever on Top Chef. He was tea med up with Ryan on a challenge with Richard Roeper where they had to do a dish based a movie and theirs was A Christmas Story and Ryan could not believe he had never seen it and excitedly gave this super long winded explanation, they kept cutting to different parts of it, and then it cuts to Mark where he simply says "I believe it's a comedy." The entire scene was glorious and my best friend and I will sometimes say "I believe it's a comedy" when someone excitedly explains something that we don't understand.

[Lamb18]

I saw Phillip Lee on one of these Sponsored Content links at the bottom of the page and it was something about a restaurant having no servers.

[biakbiak]

Next season Will be in Colorado.

Quote

The Bravo cooking competition will be heading to the Centennial State for its upcoming 15th season, with challenges set in Denver, Boulder, and Telluride, EW can announce exclusively.

Padma Lakshmi will once again return to host, along with judges Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, and Graham Elliot.

[Jamie Satyr]

Just saw advert on "The Food Network" showing Season 4 winner Stephanie Izard will participate in their latest incarnation of "The Next Iron Chef" called "IC Gauntlet!" It starts this Sunday on the FN at 9 pm EDT! ;-)

[Lamb18]

Funny if Richard Blaise was on this, too. Hopefully he's not a judge.

[Jamie Satyr]

2 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

Funny if Richard Blaise was on this, too. Hopefully he's not a judge.

 

2 hours ago, Lamb18 said:

Funny if Richard Blaise was on this, too. Hopefully he's not a judge.

Not yet! He has worked over there on the Food Network though! ;-)