• Monday, January 05th, 2009
If you’ve been watching Food Network lately – sometimes it feels more like enduring – you’ve probably seen ads for the Ted Allen helmed new competition Chopped. The show features top chefs – ha, get it? – competing each week to produce food based on ingredients provided. Allen left his position on Bravo’s Top Chef in order to take part in the endeavor, and looking at the list of recently released competitors there’s a damn good chance Chopped may be good. more…
Category: Food Entertainment
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I’m not a chick, as is evident by my supremely manly ways. That being said, I do have some experience with bridal showers. I admit that the bulk of my knowledge deals with avoiding the party to go play golf, and maybe eating some leftovers that night while my wife and her sister’s reminisce about the girly good times of only a few hours ago. Clearly the most ballsy member of Top Chef this week was Gail Simmons, who allowed the cheftestants to compete by cooking for her bridal shower. 
One of my favorite Quick Fire challenges returns this week on Top Chef, and Gail Simmons is getting married. Or got married actually. But again, this show is not live. Now the cheftestants not only have to appease Gail’s discerning pallete, but her bride-to-be craziness. Yes, I said craziness. Even my wife and sister, who are both quite rational and down to earth had fits of bridezilla. Not big, or even memorable now that I come to think of it. 
This week’s Top Chef sees the cheftestants competing for a spot on NBC’s Today Show. It also features questionable celebrity chef Rocco Dispirito. Now, I’m normally a defender of the celebrity chef as it’s own viable option for chefs and cooks. I don’t particularly like the bubbly nature of Rachel Ray, but damn if the woman isn’t a brilliant businesswoman. 
So it’s week three of Top Chef New York and coincidentally also Thanksgiving Eve. Actually, is that really what it’s called? I guess technically it is, so let us just go with that. In any case the cheftestants are tasked with cooking a Thanksgiving spread for the Foo Fighters, musicians extraordinaire, and their entourage. Even better Richard lets the audience know that Leah is the flirty one with a nice rack. 
Hey, it looks like the Top Chef cheftestants are coming to my town this week. Well, in truth they were already here as the show isn’t done live. But this Wednesday you can see Stefan and Fabio hold hands as they traipse around Armory Square in Syracuse. Or not. It’ll probably all take place at the venue the Foo Fighters played at. Speaking of which, the Foo Fighters are this week’s guest judge(s). 
”It’s not how many dragons you kill; it’s who goes home with the princess.”
Can there be spoilers for Top Chef? The episode will begin with a “previously on,” they’ll show the cheftestants in their rooms, the Quick Fire will feature the guest judge, there will be a twist on the Elimination challenge, and someone goes home. But just in case you absolutely must avoid knowing what’ll happen on the next episode of Top Chef you probably shouldn’t watch the following videos. Except they are excerpts from the show and don’t really feature anything but an introduction to what the cheftestants will be facing. 
If you’re expecting me to review each and every dish on the premiere of Top Chef you will be sorely disappointed. Maybe when we get down to the nitty gritty later on I’ll be able to do that, but did you see how many dishes were prepared? With 17 cheftestants going there was a lot to take in, which is why this episode was fifteen minutes longer than the typical episode. 
We are now less than a week away from the premiere of Top Chef New York, so that means we can just sit back and wait. Right? Nah, let’s watch some more videos from the upcoming season of cheftestants. Below you’ll find the videos showcasing the…ahem…talents of the new cast. This season’s first quickfire, an apple peeling and dicing competition, might be my favorite opening so far. It’s something that I’m actually good at, and understand. 