'Top Chef' Blog

Pack your knives

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:23:16 GMT

“We can serve monkey ass in empty clam shell; we gonna win this one …”—Fabio

Ah, Fabio. You do have a way with words. And, it seems, a bit of a prophetic streak.

This week's Restaurant Wars, as always, came down to leadership and confidence. (And also some werid magic tricks, courtesy of Jeff. But I digress.) Radhika couldn't muster much of either. Her first mistake was not putting Jeff—a good-looking, smooth-talking guy who freely admits he’s very concerned with image—out to work the front of the house. Instead, she took on a role that was clearly uncomfortable for her and appeared nervous and unfocused the whole time. In a word: painful. I mean, can someone please get Tom a fork?

At the judge’s table, it almost seemed like Radhika wanted to go home. She hasn't been good at standing up for herself all season, but for some reason we kept thinking (hoping?) that would change. No such luck. Note to remaining contestants: “I’m not sure,” is never the right answer. Just make something up. It doesn’t even have to make sense. (Hey, it’s working for Toby Young.)

While it was clear that this was Radhika’s time to go, she made a good showing. A finish in the top half, even in what’s turning out to be a ho-hum season, is impressive. If she works on building her confidence and starts listening to critiques of her food, whether she likes them or not (and then uses them to her advantage—that's what they're there for, after all), we definitely haven’t seen the last of her.

Radhika's departure means this is first time since Season 2 that Chicago won’t be represented in the finale. Based on this week's showings, here’s who we think will make it instead:

Hosea: He’ll be there. He just might not have a girlfriend back home to watch it with.

Jamie: She’s the only one who can give Stefan a run … probably with something that involves scallops. And possibly corn.

Stefan: Unless those scallops really blow someone’s mind, this might be a foregone conclusion.

-- M. Kathleen Pratt

In like a lion, out like a lamb

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:06:08 GMT

Tonight’s post got a little delayed by dinner at Mado—fitting, as it’s sort of Chicago’s version of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, without the on-site farm—so here’s our super-speedy “Top Chef” recap, in 150 words or fewer:

1. We like Fabio’s “recycle” shirt.

2. We really, really like Hosea’s “I heart Padma” shirt.

3. Padma’s dramatic reveal of processed food: Very suave. But how many times did they have to tape that?

4. Actual quote from Stefan: “I’m a very smart guy.” (Maybe he meant “smug”? It does sound kind of like “smart.”)

5. “Team Chicken.” Hmm. Unfortunate name.

6. Awkwardness on Team Lamb: brought to you by the Toyota Sequoia.

7. Radhika: How does lack of figs sabotage bread pudding? Lack of bread, yes. Lack of figs, no.

8. Arianne creating suspense with lamb … this is getting to be a familiar theme.

9. “The potatoes were lovely.” Oh, Padma, you always manage to say something nice, don’t you?

10. Bad visual: Toby Young having “full blown, unprotected ...” Er, let’s just stop there.

11. Chicken beats pork. Pork beats lamb. It’s like Rock, paper, scissors, barnyard edition.

12. Arianne? Gone? Guess we never will learn how to pronounce your name.

For more on Radhika's showing this week (hint: it wasn't pretty) check out The Stew. Next week: Restaurant wars!

Back in the kitchen

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:47:50 GMT

The other day, we choose seven ingredients at random from our cupboards and made an amuse bouche in 15 minutes. Then we diced eight potatoes in a relay race around the kitchen island. And then we preserved everything in the fridge in GladWare. Yes, we were displaying all the symptoms of severe "Top Chef" withdrawal. Thank goodness the holiday break ended this week, before we attempted a five-course dinner using nothing but Twix bars, lemon zest, asparagus tips and an immersion blender.

First, our local chef update: Radhika wins immunity with what sounds like a pretty tasty dessert (whole wheat challah bread pudding with sauteed white peaches and honey-roasted cashews), then really makes the most of her immunity by serving a widely panned curried bisque, which appears to be a variation of the bisque she serves at Between Boutique Cafe and Lounge, in the elimination challenge.

And now, we’ve finally reached the point in the season where we start making predictions. In the order we think they’ll go:

Fabio: A suave accent and disarming good looks will only take you so far.
Jeff: He’ll get distracted by a mirror and slip up in due time.
Radhika: We’d love to see another Chicago chef make it to the top, but so far we’ve seen a very mixed bag of hits and misses. Eventually, her inconsistency will catch up to her.
Carla: OK, maybe we just really really want Carla to make it this far because we find her so amusing. She may go earlier. But then who will give us moments of zen in the olive oil aisle?
Arianne: It sure ain’t pretty, but it must taste fabulous because the judges keep gushing over it.
Hosea: Still possibly the biggest sleeper of the season.

Final three (in no particular order):

Stefan: He’s this year’s version of Marcel/Hung/Stephen/insert-name-of-other-chef-you-love-to-hate here. Ergo, he has to stick around.
Jamie: She’s the only one left who’s tough enough to fight with Stefan. (And as long as she cooks something other than scallops next week, she’s a shoe-in anyway.)
Leah: The quiet ones always surprise you in the end ...

For a closer look at Radhika's showing and more on new British bad boy judge Toby Young, check out The Stew.

This post brought to you by T-Mobile

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:28:55 GMT

Oh, “Top Chef.” Just when we’re wondering if this is the season you’ll jump the shark, you bring us back down to earth with a heart-warming Christmas story. (Of course, from the sound of his stew room lecture, it sounds like Tom’s starting to think this might be the season “Top Chef” jumps the shark too.) But really, the producers couldn’t have asked for a better story line: Someone leaves the fridge open. Food stands out at room temp overnight. Radhika and Hosea lose their proteins. Everyone pitches in to help them recover. They both end up in the top four. Hosea wins. Hometown gal Radhika sails through to the next round. Yay, Christmas spirit!

Elsewhere in matters of story development, we learn through a phone call to his sister that Hosea’s father was diagnosed with cancer right before taping began. It would have been a fairly dramatic snippet, had we not been so distracted by the blatant T-Mobile product placement. Really “Top Chef”? Really? We know you have bills to pay like the rest of us, but exploiting Hosea’s one phone call home for a little sponsorship coin just didn’t feel right.

The T-Mobile incident inspired us to start keeping track of product placement. Once we started to add it all up, it was even more pervasive than we thought.

Hosea’s family drama: Brought to you by the T-Mobile Sidekick

Martha Stewart: Brought to you by Martha Stewart’s “Martha Stewart’s Cooking School”

One pot cooking: Brought to you by Swanson

Shopping at Whole Foods: Brought to you by Whole Foods

Jeff rifling through the spices: Also brought to you by Whole Foods

Packed refrigerators: Brought to you by GladWare

Breakfast conversation: Possibly brought to you by Hansen’s soda … we’re not sure

Fake Christmas champagne toast: Brought to you by Korbel

Michelle Bernstein: Brought to you by Michelle Bernstein’s new book “Cuisine a Latina”

Stew room: Brought to you by Glad ForceFlex and Dr. Pepper

And that’s not counting what we missed. There’s got to be some freaky subliminal stuff we overlooked …

Next week: Christmas all over again! And that means double the hilarity of watching chefs try to act like it’s really Christmas when everyone knows the episode taped months ago. We’ll be taking the week off, so Merry Christmas to all, and may all your Christmas wishes (ahem, "Top Chef" cookbook, Calphalon cookware, subscription to Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food) come true.

For more on this week's episode, don't forget to check out The Stew.

Always a bridesmaid ...

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 17:29:37 GMT

Tonight we set out to test our theory that Radhika is getting seriously shorted on screen time. And what better way to do it than by pitting her against the camera’s best friend, Fabio? Here’s how they fared in the head-to-head.

Quickfire setup: Roughly even on the knife draw. Good reaction shot of Fabio. Good shot of Radhika’s right eye in a reaction shot of Daniel and Hosea. Advantage: Fabio.

Quickfire: Radhika wins! Well, not the whole Quickfire. But she actually went head-to-head with Fabio, beat him, and therefore got more screen time. Advantage: Radhika.

Elimination setup: Radhika gets a confessional shot, one of her first all season. (Shocker: She hates Stefan just like everyone else. Also, Gail doesn’t like black beans? Who doesn’t like black beans?) Advantage: Radhika.

Elimination, Part 1: Radhika talks about Indian food. Fabio butters up the fishmonger. (Carla does some weird thing that involves wandering through the market cooing like a pigeon. Which is funny, because if Carla had a totem animal, we think it would most definitely be a bird.) Radhika talks about how she makes Indian food without making Indian food. Fabio daydreams about beautiful women. Fabio chats with Tom. Radhika watches while Jamie and Ariane chat with Tom about Indian food. Advantage: Fabio.

Get-to-know-you interlude: Fabio talks about his marriage. Radhika stares blankly into space and plays with her bracelet while Ariane talks about her marriage. Advantage: Fabio.

Elimination, Part 2: Radhika talks about being nervous. Fabio talks about being nervous. (And about how Tom is like the pope.) Radhika watches as Jamie explains how she borrowed her culture. Fabio talks while everyone in the room watches. Advantage: Fabio.

Judges’ table, featuring Dana Cowin of Food & Wine: Radhika stands by silently while Ariane inadvertently takes credit for the dish she seasoned and then steals--sorry, "borrows"--the win from Jamie. Fabio defends his "sad plate." Advantage: Fabio.

Final score: 5 to 3, Fabio wins.

Though Radhika still can't stand up to Fabio, she fared better than we expected. She wasn't totally absent this episode, and had we pitted her against Leah or the blond girl with the bangs whose name we can never remember or maybe even Hosea, she would have won. Perhaps the producers are warming up to her? Still, as our friends over at the Stew point out Radhika could be doing more to stand out and help her own cause at critical moments like the judges' table.

Next week: Martha Stewart's on the loose!

Free Radhika!

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 15:55:08 GMT

Tonight’s episode could be remembered as the Week of the Easiest Quickfire Ever. (Anyone who can define “breakfast” and “amuse bouche” wins!) But we will always remember it as the Week of the Disappearing Contestant. And it wasn’t just any contestant—it was our hometown gal, Radhika.

Every now and then, we’d catch a glimpse of her biting her lip nervously or running through the kitchen while the clock ticked down. But we hardly saw her cook, and there was zero discussion of her food. What gives, "Top Chef"? Last season, we gave you our city and a worthy champion. The least you can do in return is shout us a few minutes of screen time.

Just to be sure it’s not a figment of our imaginations, we’re breaking out the stopwatch next week: Fabio vs. Radhika, a screen-time smackdown. Bring your kitchen timers and your GladWare. (We’re not actually sure what we’ll be using the GladWare for yet; we’re just hoping someone will float us a few bucks every time we mention it. GladWare Gladware Gladware.)

Until then, we’d like to leave you with some sage advice from Gail, delivered in what was possibly the most overdramatic “Top Chef” quote ever: “That’s a pepper you don’t want people at home playing with unless they’re experienced.” That’s right, we’re talking to you, you wild and crazy home cook: Put down the habaneros and step away slowly!

Still hungry? Pop on over to The Stew for a closer look at Radhika's (fleeting) performance.

6 questions for Stephanie Izard

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:22:39 GMT

Breaking news: “Top Chef” winner Stephanie Izard makes green bean casserole on Thanksgiving just like the rest of us!

Oh, and there’s more exciting news: Izard’s sharing early details about Drunken Goat, the restaurant she’s opening next year with partners Rob Katz and Kevin Boehm of Boka Restaurant Group (Boka, Landmark, Perennial). She says they’re “leaning toward” a Wicker Park location for the dinner and late-night spot (weekend brunch is also in the plans) but nothing has been finalized.

We dropped her a line to find out more about the restaurant—and snuck in a couple of questions about the current season of “Top Chef” and what’s on the menu for Thanksgiving.

How did you come up with the name, Drunken Goat?

It all started with my last name, Izard, which is a type of mountain goat that resides in the Pyrenees Mountains. Take that with my love of cheese—drunken goat being a Spanish goat cheese—and my love of great beer and wine and the name just came to be.

Tell us a little more about the place. What kind of food will you be doing?

The atmosphere and menu are meant to be fun and funky—a lively vibe with a menu of shared plates focusing primarily on Spanish and Italian flavors.

Any plans to put a winning “Top Chef” dish or two on the menu? (A side of braised pistachios with every entree, perhaps? Ted Allen will be there every night!)

I am sure pistachios and other elements of dishes from the show will find their way to the menu from time to time, but I [don’t] think any dish, as a whole, from the show will be on the menu. Things tend to turn out a little different when the pressures of Tom, Padma and the red time clock are not around.

The question everyone will be asking … when will we get to eat there?

It is hard to give an exact date right now, but we are hoping for some time in 2009.

You’re blogging about the new season of “Top Chef” on Bravo’s Web site. Do you have any early predictions for us?

I am leaning toward Stefan and Jamie, but it is way too early to tell.

What are you doing for Thanksgiving—and what’s on the menu?

I am getting together with a bunch of friends for a potluck … not sure what all I am bringing, but green bean casserole with my cream of mushroom soup is a certainty.

-- M. Kathleen Pratt

Jill lays an egg

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 04:46:09 GMT

In honor of eggs large and small, a dozen things about tonight’s episode of "Top Chef":

Radhika: Chicago, represent! The hot dog-kebab mashup is a hit. Even better, it’s immunity.

The egg aisle at Whole Foods: What is this? A whole aisle dedicated to eggs? Why do we not have one of these in Chicago?

Carla: This woman could spontaneously combust at any moment. Until that moment, we’re loving every minute of her.

"Top Chef" rejects: Haters. Probably well-qualified haters, but haters all.

Leah: Padma thinks your presentation is very '80s. Like Hypercolor T-shirts, Intellivision and "Footloose." Is that such a bad thing?

Eugene: Hey, we love meatloaf too! Have you heard of this place yet?

Radhika, redux: Work that immunity! Life gives you precious few chances to serve a dismal avocado mousse to Gail Simmons.

"Sweaty cheddar cheese": Bad visual. Thanks Donatella.

Fabio: Good job defending your winning dish. Even better because you didn’t have to.

Jamie: Ever had the corn chowder at Craftsteak? Tom knows corn soup. Be proud.

Jill: "Lamest defense of any food we have had in five seasons of this show." Ouch.

Ariane: How do you pronounce your name? No one seems to know. Oh well, you’re not going to be around much longer anyway.

-- M. Kathleen Pratt

Sexy sells

Kathleen Pratt — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:06:13 GMT

Last week's show pulled in the highest number of viewers yet for a "Top Chef" premiere, and RedEye's Show Patrol has a theory as to why. Hint: He's big, bald and knows his way around a kitchen.

How 'bout them apples?

Kathleen Pratt — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 17:34:55 GMT

Big-name guest judges. (Jeans-Georges!) Gratuitous product placement. (GE Monogram!) Tom and Padma. (Padma!) Bloody apples. (Bloody apples?)

Oh yeah, baby, “Top Chef” is back! And as usual, we’ll be blogging all season, following the progress of (and shamelessly cheering for) Chicago chef Radhika Desai.

This week, Desai gave us a bit of a scare right off the bat, landing in the bottom four in the first Quickfire Challenge. Ultimately, she won Tom and Padma over with her seared pork chop and apple chutney. She didn’t get too much screen time during the Elimination Challenge—Bravo was busy developing story lines like “Team Rainbow” (the gay alliance) and “The Euro Duo” (the cocky Finnish/Italian guys, complete with subtitling)—though Gail casually threw out her name as a candidate for the judge’s table. In the end, our hometown hope slipped through to see another day in the “Top Chef’ kitchen. We’re wildly conflicted on her food—we’ve enjoyed her desserts and sweeter brunch dishes, but we’ve had some serious misses at dinner—so we can’t wait to hear what the judges think.

It’s too soon for detailed predictions about who will stay and who will go, but we’re starting to get a sense of who’s going to fill the now well-established “Top Chef” roles.

Heartthrob: Fabio. The guy’s from Italy and his name is Fabio. It’s almost unfair.

Pretty boy: Jeffrey. Actual quote: “It hurts me if I’m not perfect.”

Badass chick: Jamie. Mad tatts. Enough said.

Cocky guy everyone loves to hate: Stefan. (And if the teasers for next week are true to form, this is gonna get good!)

Underdog: Eugene. We almost cried when Padma told him how much she loved his dish. Real tears.

Potential sleeper: Hosea. Cameras see a strong silent type. We see potential.

Let’s see … who are we missing? We’ll fill in the blanks as Bravo’s master plan unfolds. Until then, check out some of our behind-the scenes photos of Desai in her kitchen here in Chicago and take a closer look at how she fared this week over at The Stew.

-- M. Kathleen Pratt