Last night’s episode of “Top Chef All-Stars” was mostly shot at the site of the US Open tennis tournament in Flushing, New York, which took place back in August and September. Anyway, host Padma Lakshmi along with Top Chef Master Tony Mantuano announced the quickfire challenge, which was to make some sort of holiday stuffing. Of course, they couldn’t make it that easy. The chef-testants were asked to do this without using any utensils and having to be as resourceful as possible. The winner would receive both immunity this week AND $20K. Wow.

Tony’s least favorites were Carla’s quinoa, which she jokingly referred to as “undente,” meaning it was not cooked enough. She knew it and so did Tony. He also didn’t like Tiffani’s sweet maple stuffing because it was too sweet; and Casey’s mushroom dish, which didn’t really resemble stuffing at all. His faves were Tre’s cheddar/bacon/chili cornbread stuffing; and Marcel’s stuffing with raisin brioche, cherries and currants. Tre was the winner, so he had immunity this week as well as a cool 20 grand. Nice!

For the elimination challenge, they had to break into teams by choosing tennis ball cans. There were orange balls and yellow balls and the challenge was culinary tennis, as chefs from each team would compete one on one for a point, and the team to four points first won. The premise was that they were cooking for the tennis players, and Taylor Dent was one of the judges along with regulars Padma, Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons and also Mantuano. Anyway, those who lost a point for their team were possibly up for elimination.

The teams were Fabio, Dale, Marcel, Mike, Antonia, Richard, Carla vs. Tiffani, Casey, Tiffany, Angelo, Spike, Tre and Jamey. Fabio went up against Casey first, but Casey’s team wanted to send Jamey out first because their strategy was the worst dish went first in order to lose a point and then finish strong. They knew Jamey’s chick peas were not cooked all the way through, and yet she stayed back, saying her dish wasn’t complete. Casey was pissed, especially when she and her pork tenderloin with cherries and farro lost to Fabio who made potato gnocchi with pork ragout. Tiffani’s bass sashimi beat Dale’s edamame dumpling to tie the score. Angelo’s smoked tuna on a spoon beat out Marcel’s cauliflower cous cous over tuna; Antonia’s scallops and lentils beat Tiffany’s spiced tuna. Tie score again. Richard’s Thai-bouleh with lamb beat Spike’s tomato tamarind soup with shrimp. Then Carla got her team the win by having her African peanut soup beat out Tre’s salmon dish.

So there were a few problems here. One, the team with Jamey allowed her to skate AGAIN. She did this a few weeks ago with the museum challenge when cutting her finger. She didn’t get her dish up against Mike Isabella’s smoked chicken, and had no shot to go home. Also, Angelo “helped” Tre, who had immunity, and screwed up his fish on purpose…allegedly. He also added some weird “gelee” to Spike’s shrimp as they were plating. Of course they were both up for elimination. Angelo is no dummy, but he’s also a sneaky bastard.

Anyway, the favorite dishes were Fabio, Carla, Richard and Antonia, and Carla won—her prize was a trip to Italy. Imagine if Fabio won that? Ha! Okay, that wasn’t that funny. The bottom four were Casey, Tiffany, Spike and Tre. But Tre was already safe. The judges asked Tiffany, since she was in Season 7 with Angelo, if he typically “helped” others and sabotaged them. She kind of smirked and said she didn’t think so. Um, okay. Casey was pissed that she was there, mostly because Jamey wasn’t, and she was fidgeting like Jen did a couple weeks ago. But in the end, Spike was sent home, thanks in part to Angelo’s “gelee” on his shrimp, but also because it apparently didn’t taste very good overall.

So that’s it, we’re now down to 13 chefs, and this season is just heating up. One thing is for sure though….Jamey isn’t long for this thing. Her strategy is to skate, while Angelo’s is to sabotage others around him. So I predict Jamey will be sent packing soon, while Angelo will reach the Final Four like he did in Season 7. I mean, the guy can cook, but still…. Happy holidays everyone, and see you next week!

The episode of Top Chef All-Stars began this week with shock that Jen was sent home last week. Really, it’s going to be a shocking elimination every week with this cast of heavyweights, isn’t it? But many of them felt Jamie deserved to go home since she got hurt and went to the hospital, thus skating by last week. Then the quick fire was announced with host Padma Lakshmi and chef David Chang. They would break into four random teams, based on how they were standing at the moment. They would each have the same ingredients to work with–to prep and create a meal as quickly as possible using lamb, garlic and artichokes.

The teams were:
Red–Antonia, Jamie, Dale and Casey
Green–Angelo, Fabio, Tiffany and Mike
White–Dale, Tiffani, Carla, Marcel
Blue–Spike, Richard, Stephen, Tre

David’s least favorites were red and green; and his favorites were white and blue, with the blue team winning with their crispy lamb and artichokes three ways. Each player won $5K, and there would be no immunity this week.

For the elimination challenge, each team as they were constructed would go to a hot NYC restaurant, dine there, and then work against each other to create a meal that would represent the kitchen of that restaurant. The green team got Ma Peche, which was Chang’s restaurant; Red got Townhouse; the blue team Marea; and white team WD-50. They would compete against each other and there would be one winner per team, and one overall winner. There would be four losers, one from each team, with TWO of them going home. Yikes.

This was an interesting and apparently very difficult challenge. The judges would be the chefs from each of the restaurants and also included Kate Krader from Food & Wine Magazine.

The winners were Dale T (sunnyside up egg dumpling with pork belly), Antonia (pea and carrot purees with seared scallop), Angelo (turmeric marinated fish with salmon roe and white chocolate) and Tre (grilled swordfish with braised artichoke). The favorite dish was Dale, based on Wylie Dufresne’s WD-50.

The losers were Stephen (salmon with figs, broccoli and fennel pollen), Tiffani (broken summer heirloom melon with powdered ham and cheese), Fabio (roasted lamb with hoisin bbq sauce and homemade ricotta) and Dale L (roasted veal loin with peanuts and popcorn). The two going home…..Stephen and Dale L. Fabio dodged a bullet, and I was kind of surprised Dale went home before he did.

So we’re now down to 14, and these eliminations will not get easier on the judges as they go. It sure is going to be interesting. Thanks for reading and see you next week…

We figured that this season of “Top Chef,” being “Top Chef All-Stars” and all, there would be some ego clashes and shocking eliminations. Last night was mostly the latter.

The show began with Joe Jonas of The Jonas Brothers joining host Padma Lakshmi to announce the quick fire challenge. Helping to cater “A night at the museum” for a group of kids visiting the National Natural History Museum, the chef-testants would have to created a midnight snack geared toward kids that were apparently around 10-12 years old. Each snack would have to be served in a brown paper bag.
The least favorite snacks were by Tiffany D (coconut rice pudding), Mike Isabella (chocolate coconut bar with coconut horchata) and Stephen (snickerdoodle cookies). The favorites were Spike (homemade potato and carrot chips with dip) and Tiffani (Rice Krispie treat snowball).

But they were not about to announce a winner. Instead, they were going to the museum to let the kids decide the winner…..and Tiffani and Spike had to choose teams to help them make the snacks in bulk. The kids chose Tiffani’s snack, and she won immunity this week and an advantage at the challenge.

Then Tom Colicchio showed up and announced that the elimination challenge would be taking place at the museum, and the chef-testants would be spending the night there on these cots. Yikes. Anyway, they’d only get 45 minutes of sleep before having to get into the kitchen at 4am and begin cooking breakfast for the kids.
They would break into the same teams as for the snacks, and one team would represent a brontosaurus diet, meaning fruits, veggies and grains; while the T-Rex team had to make an all meat diet (with NO vegetables or herbs!). Tiffani had the advantage of choosing, and she unwisely chose the meat team, not realizing she would only have things such as meat and eggs to work with.

The Brontosaurus team was able to create bright, vibrant dishes using fruits and vegetables, while the T-Rex team made some boring, and what looked like tasteless dishes. But they made “breakfast food,” while the other team made stuff like gazpacho. Jen pointed out that she knew from her season that you don’t cook for the diners, you cook for the judges. And that was made clear by the fact that the Brontosaurus team won, even though their dishes were not kid-friendly at all. The winning dish, however, probably was kid-friendly—Angelo, Richard and Marcel’s banana parfait.

The T-Rex team lost, and all of them faced the chopping block. As they stood there, Jen was fidgeting and bouncing up and down, and cleary pissed that they lost. She snapped at Colicchio twice, and while Tom said he cared more about the food than about chefs at this level snapping at him, Jen was the person they sent home. They said it was about the food, but come on…..they were afraid of Jen’s suddenly volatile nature and just rid themselves of her.

So that’s it….two weeks in the books in what promises to be an awesome (and now volatile) season. Thanks for reading and see you all next week….

Unlike other reality shows that either jump the shark or try to use the same formula over and over again, the fine folks at Magical Elves bring us “Top Chef’s” eighth season, but with an awesome twist–“Top Chef All-Stars” on Bravo. It’s not a match of winners, mind you, but of contestants who came close to winning but fell short. That means contestants who are both still hungry and partially or fully bitter. And that makes for genius TV.

Also, after having seasons in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas and Washington DC, this battle takes place in the heart of it all, New York City. The same host, Padma Lakshmi, returns along with head judge Tom Colicchio as well as Gail Simmons and newcomer Anthony Bourdain (who has been a frequent guest judge).

So the show kicked off last night, and here are the contestants:
# Elia Aboumrad; Season two, final four
# Stephen Asprinio; Season one, top five
# Richard Blais; Season four finalist
# Jennifer Carroll; Season six, final four
# Tiffany Derry; Season seven, top five
# Tiffani Faison; Season one finalist
# Carla Hall; Season five finalist
# Mike Isabella; Season six, top seven
# Jamie Lauren; Season five, top seven
# Dale Levitski; Season three finalist
# Antonia Lofaso; Season four, final four
# Spike Mendelsohn; Season four, top five
# Angelo Sosa; Season seven finalist
# Dale Talde; Season four, top six
# Casey Thompson; Season three finalist and fan favorite
# Marcel Vigneron; Season two finalist
# Fabio Viviani; Season five final four and fan favorite
# Tre Wilcox; Season three, top eight

It’s a “who’s who” of Top Chef chef-testants, and some incredibly talented ones. And oh yeah, the top prize is a cool $200K courtesy of Buitoni.

The quick fire challenge was a “season” challenge, in which there would be teams from each season that would create a dish that reflected the city of that season. Season 1 went with a seafood cioppino gazpacho; Season 2 fish tacos; Season 3 pork with mango; Season 4 Chicago hot dogs; Season 5 (New Orleans) went with Big Apple versions of stuff, but each made their own dish which was risky; Season 6 made bacon and lobster pasta; and Season 7 crab cake “essence.”

The least favorite dishes were Season 1, 2, 5, and 7. The favorites were Seasons 3, 4 and 6. And the winner was Season 4–who made their own sausage and who had Richard Blais make a mustard gelato. Of course he did! Let the games begin, right? So that team won immunity for this week.

Then it was time for the elimination challenge. And this too was genius–take the dish that sent you home, and make it better. The winner would receive $10K, and they would serve half at a time, while the other half dined with the judges and also commented, with a TV in the kitchen so that the other chefs could see what they were saying. Ha!

The winning dishes were made by Spike (pickled mushrooms and scallops with lime dressing), Jamie (pan seared black bass and celery sauce), Richard (pork belly with bread and butter radishes) and Angelo (homemade ramen with pork belly and watermelon)–but Richard was not eligible because he kept plating after the buzzer went off. And the favorite dish was…Angelo. This dude is a monster and the previous seasons had better reckon with him in a hurry. Richard, of course, thought he had the best dish but was disqualified.

The least favorites were by Fabio (pasta with crawfish and crab stew), Stephen (lobster egg rolls and hibiscus ponzu) and Elia (red snapper steamed in ti leaves). Fabio took exception to Bourdain’s criticism that the dish looked awful and didn’t taste good. It was pretty comical. Elia pleaded with the judges not to eliminate her, but in the end, that’s who they chose, because she didn’t do anything different with the dish that got her sent home the first time. That’ll do it.

So we’re now down to 17……this show is awesome and there is going to be a lot of continued ego-fights and fun, with lots of amazing food. Man, I sure would love to be a judge on this show just to taste everything. Thanks for reading and see you all next week….

Last night was the season finale of “Top Chef: DC,” and the outcome was a bit of a surprise, maybe shocking to many of you. The three finalists–Kevin, Ed and Angelo–had to create a four-course meal for a bunch of celebrity diners that included Dana Cowin from Food & Wine Magazine and David Chang. There had to be a vegetable dish, a fish dish, a meat dish and a dessert. Each chef would have a sous chef–a winner from a previous season. Ed was paired with Ilan Hall from Season 2, Hung Huynh from Season 3 with Angelo, and Kevin with Michael Voltaggio from last season (the two have worked together before).

Things were thrown into a tizzy when Angelo was sick in bed with the flu, and the doctor gave him a 20% chance of being able to cook the following day. But the doc gave him a shot and Angelo was good to go, but not before having to have his sous chef prep by phone that first day. Oh, and judges Tom Colicchio and Eric Ripert went and bought the proteins at the Singapore markets for the challenge, and had threatened that “monkey was in season.” Yikes. But they wound up with stuff like rouget, cuttlefish and duck.

For their final dishes, here is what they made:

Angelo: pickled royale mushrooms with pork belly; Asian bouillabaisse; sauteed duck breast with foie gras; and coconut/vanilla cream.

Kevin: eggplant turrine; rouget with cuttlefish and noodles; roasted duck breast with dumplings; and a Singapore sling with tropical fruits.

Ed: summer corn veloute; stuffed rouget; duck two ways (roasted duck and stuffed duck neck); and sticky toffee pudding.

Ed, while considered a favorite the last few weeks, took a nosedive with his dessert, and when Colicchio called him out on it, he back-pedaled with some weird defense mechanism about not making lemon curd because he would have screwed it up. Huh?

Meanwhile, Angelo had a few flaws in his meal, but Kevin had fewer. In fact, the judges were practically having orgasms over Kevin’s Sling dessert. I think Gail Simmons wanted to recruit him for her new dessert show right then and there. So in the end, as the chefs faced the judges, Padma uttered the words, “Kevin…..” “Yes?” he replied. “You are Top Chef.” He was shocked, but I don’t think Ed or Angelo were. Kevin was like the sneaky underdog the last 8 weeks or so, after facing elimination a few times. Maybe that was his risky strategy, but either way, he wowed the judges in Singapore and that’s why he won.

So that’s all, folks. It’s been a pleasure blogging this season with you again, and I look forward to the next one, whenever that is. Thanks for reading!