Tag: Gail Simmons (Page 8 of 9)

Top Chef Las Vegas: women dropping like flies

September 3, 2009 /

We’re three episodes into Bravo’s “Top Chef: Las Vegas,” and already it’s looking like this is going to be a race between Jennifer and like half a dozen guys. So far, everyone that’s been eliminated has been female, and a few of the next chefs to be cut are likely to be women as well, judging by recent history.

Last night the episode (which was a too-long 75 minutes) began with a quick fire challenge, as the contestants were greeted by host Padma Lakshmi and chef Mark Peel (who was recently on “Top Chef Masters”). The theme of the challenge was potatoes, and they were asked to create an “out of this world” potato dish in 45 minutes time.

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External TV, Reality TV, Top Chef Masters, TV

Top Chef Las Vegas: fun in the sun

August 27, 2009 /

On last night’s “Top Chef Las Vegas” on Bravo, there was another high stakes quick fire challenge, and an elimination challenge that was to cook for a dual bachelor/bachelorette party. At one point during the episode, one of the chefs was talking about how he had nicknames for all of his fellow contestants….so I’m going to start using a few of my own nicknames too.

Kevin will now be known as Kris Kringle.
Ashley will now be known as Ben Folds.

That’s all I can think of right now, but if you watch this show and know what I’m talking about, you are probably laughing right now.

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External TV, Reality TV, Top Chef Masters, TV

Top Chef Las Vegas: what’s your vice?

August 20, 2009 /

“Top Chef Last Vegas” (Season 6) kicked off last night and while I confess that I only started watching this show last season and became really hip during “Top Chef Masters,” I feel like I’ve been watching it all along. And since these first episodes are usually crazy to try and recap with all the new faces, let’s just run down the names of the contestants: Kevin, Preeti, Ron, Eve, Mattin, Jesse, Jen, Jennifer, Bryan, Michael, Mike, Laurine, John, Robin, Hector, Eli and Ashley. Whew.

They brought in the usual cast of characters as judges—Tom Colicchio, Padma Lakshmi and Gail Simmons, and they began with the Quick Fire challenge, which was the team relay race. They broke into teams of four, but since there are 17 contestants, one of them drew a gold coin and was able to sit out the race, as well as have immunity for the first week. That person was Robin.

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Top Chef Masters: a master is crowned

August 20, 2009 /

The one thing that struck me this season on the inaugural “Top Chef Masters” is how truly amazing these chefs are at what they do…and how they can create masterpieces on a plate within minutes, using any ingredients in front of them. Well, the finale last night was no exception, with Hubert Keller, Michael Chiarello and Rick Bayless squaring off for the grand prize of $100K for charity and the title of Top Chef Master.

They began by having host Kelly Choi take them to the Getty Villa, where they would be spending the day and night, having time to think about their menu, and then creating four main dishes each to serve to a panel of judges. The judges for the finale would be the three who have been here since the start–food critics Jay Rayner, Gael Greene and James Oseland; “Top Chef” regulars Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and Padma Lakshmi; and each of the winners of the first five seasons of “Top Chef.” The task? A “meal of a lifetime”–dishes that represented various parts of each chefs’ life–their earliest food memory, when they decided to become a chef, their first restaurant opening, and today.

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Top Chef Masters: more mutual respect

July 23, 2009 /

Last night on Bravo was the final preliminary round of “Top Chef Masters,” and next week begins the finals, in which one chef will be voted off each week until someone is crowned Top Chef Master. And last night, more so than in previous episodes, there was a lot of love and mutual respect going on between the contestants…..Jonathan Waxman of New York City, better known as the dude who trained Bobby Flay; Roy Yamaguchi of Honolulu; Michael Cimarusti of Los Angeles; and Art Smith of Chicago (better known as Oprah’s chef). You could already sense that this would be a very competitive round, and it was.

Their quick fire challenge was to create a dish with just $20 and the use of a single aisle at a grocery store, drawn randomly. Jonathan drew the aisle with canned veggies and dried beans, and wound up making a red pepper and lentil salad. Art had the rice aisle and made a risotto with crispy rice salad. Michael had the baking aisle and made a chocolate parfait, and Roy had the pasta aisle and made an Asian style spaghetti with an egg on top. The judges for this were Whole Foods employees, and they liked just about all of the dishes, but loved the chocolate parfait the most…..even after Michael claimed to not be much of a dessert expert. So Michael wound up with 5 stars, Art 4.5 stars, Roy 4, and Jonathan 3.5…all of which would go toward their final score.

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External TV, Reality TV, Top Chef Masters, TV

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