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So, was it Beverly or Grayson?! Who emerged from the ashes of Last Chance Kitchen for another shot at glory?

Well, looks like Ed is in for a good night, because he wins a pack of smokes and a banana from Sarah as Beverly marches into the kitchen. Sarah is thrilled. I can tell by her pouty face.

The Quickfire is supposed to test a chef’s ability to know their ingredients through touch and smell, rather than relying on their eyes. Beneath their cloches are blindfolds that the chefs must wear while they pick their ingredients, and they must use everything they grab. Of course, the blindfolded chefs could have just been led to a table, but it makes better TV to make them stumble over each other while they try to navigate the pantry blind. I’m surprised they didn’t spin them in a circle five times before setting them loose.

The winner must choose between a new Prius or a free pass to the finals and the rest of the night off.

I wish Padma and Tom hadn’t …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 14: No crying in fine dining »

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There are a lot of things about this episode that I wouldn’t understand. Things I couldn’t understand. Things I shouldn’t understand.

Here we are, rounding the corner into the home stretch. With only five chefs remaining, after tonight we will be down to the final four. Most of the fat has been trimmed, and now is the time when the competition, and the chefs, get serious.

Or, they get Pee-wee Herman.

QUICKFIRE

The chefs enter the kitchen to see Padma-sized stacks of pancakes waiting for them. With little ado, Padma introduces this week’s guest judge, Mr. movie-and-a-trench-coat himself, Paul Reubens (AKA Pee-wee). After a quick spin around the kitchen on a bike that Pee-Wee would have totally sold to Francis for a hundred million, trillion, billion dollars, Pee-wee lays out the rules for this week’s Quickfire. The chefs have thirty minutes to put their individual spin on his favorite food, the pancake, and there is $5,000 on the line for the …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 13:Paging Mr. Herman »

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Ok, so I know I’m a day late with this week’s recap, but travel plans kept me away from the tube on Wednesday and I had to catch up on the ole’ DVR.

With only six chefs remaining, we open with the survivors reflecting on Beverly’s elimination last week. Surprisingly, Grayson comes to her defense, saying that she would actually miss her. Sarah and Lindsay are too busy celebrating to notice.

While everyone is suiting up the following morning, Chris comments on how he really hopes this week is a solo challenge (presumably, so that he can show off his creativity unhindered by teammates). Be careful what you wish for…

The chefs enter the kitchen to find this week’s guest judge, Cat Cora, waiting for them with Emeril and Padma. The Quickfire will test their speed and precision. The teams of two (Chris/Grayson, Lindsay/Sarah, and Ed/Paul) have to peel and butterfly two lbs of shrimp, make a pound of fresh fettuccine, and strip a pile of corn. If their work …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 12: More exciting than meatballs »

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After restaurant wars last week, Sarah and Lindsay are still stewing over Beverly’s win, despite their concerted effort to blame her for everything that did or could have gone wrong. Things were so awkward on their road trip back to San Antonio, the ladies didn’t even comment on how many cup holders are in their Toyota something-or-the-other.

QUICKFIRE

Eric Ripert awaits the chefs along with Padma as they enter the kitchen. Immediately, Ed points out this week’s Quickfire gimmick: the conveyor belt of doom. As soon as the 30-minute time begins, an array of ingredients will begin rolling out from behind the curtain and the chefs must snag and use three of them in their dish. Theoretically, the longer they wait, the better the ingredients will get. The winner takes home immunity, and with only seven chefs left in the game, that is more important than ever.

Sarah decides to stand around for 15 minutes waiting on the ideal ingredient to appear, while most of …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 11: Snow White and the seven chefs »

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Padma and Hughnibrow skip the pageantry of “Surprise, no Quickfire!” and dive straight into talking about the most ominous of Elimination Challenges: Restaurant Wars!

The producers take all of the guesswork out of team selection and make this one a battle of the sexes. Instead of dueling restaurants on opposite sides of the space, each team gets their own night and the opposing team will join them as diners. This obviously gives an advantage to the team that goes second. The girls win the coin toss and the boys are up first.

During menu planning, there is a noticeable synergy between each of the teams. The boys are all backslaps and high-fives, just a bunch of bros super pumped to be cooking some sick food together. The ladies are all unified in their distrust and dread of having Beverly on their team, none more so than Heather’s understudy, Sarah.

A scene from menu planning on the girls’ team:

Bev- “I could do braised lamb rib?”

Sarah- “Will they …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 10: Restaurant Wars »

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We all know chef Hugh Acheson from his restaurants in Athens and Empire State South here in Atlanta. We’ve seen him compete on Top Chef Masters and as a judge on this season’s Top Chef.

And, of course, we all know his unibrow. In fact, anytime we post on this blog about Acheson, readers remark about his unibrow.

Acheson seems to take it all in stride. He punctuates his Twitter posts and signs his cookbooks now with his signature smiley face.  |:)

That unibrow will now be put to the test. Can it raise $100,000 for charity? We’ll find out. Wholesome Wave, which works to make locally grown produce more accessible and affordable to under-served communities, is hosting “Hugh’s $100,000 Eyebrow Challenge.”

Bravo TV’s website describes how it came to be:

It all began with a tweet. Well, several tweets. Tweets from Top Chef fans to judge, Hugh Acheson, lovingly referred to as “The Hughnibrow,” about… his unibrow, or “monobrow” as he calls it. It doesn’t …

Continue reading Chef Hugh Acheson’s unibrow in jeopardy »

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While we have enjoyed family, friends, and presents during the break, we find the chefs still basking in the best present they have gotten all season: Heather’s elimination.

After Edward makes the observation that the time for playing nice is over and reveals to the group that Heather’s cake recipe was actually his, Sarah is livid. She spouts, “You don’t have the balls enough to say it to Heather’s face while she is here, then don’t say it at all.” It is very big of her to say that to the camera instead of to Edward.

Next comes a knock at the door, and in rolls room service with a copy of Modernist Cuisine, an encyclopedic tome of cookbooks by ex-Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold. Everyone is awestruck, and the chefs descend on the books like kids on Christmas.

QUICKFIRE

The chefs enter the kitchen to find Padma and Myhrvold waiting for them. After a recap of the modernist movement, when Myhrvold quickly points out that molecular gastronomy is merely a …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 9: If you can’t stand the heat….. »

I recently had the chance to catch up with Top Chef Season 7 and All-Stars alum, Tiffany Derry, to talk about her post Top Chef life and she shared some of her recipes for us to try at home.

Since her second stint on Top Chef All-Stars, Derry has opened her first? Restaurant in Dallas, Private Social. She says that the restaurant is “Global cuisine, but definitely with a little Southern in there.”

In addition to dealing with the whirlwind of opening a new restaurant and the recognition that comes with being a Top Chef alum, Derry is has been filming her own yet-to-be-named reality TV series that focuses on the rigors of being a chef.

“It is more of a reality documentary show about the stories that a chef goes through balancing work, and a home life,” says Derry. “Those darn cameras are a part of my life now!”

Given that her home state of Texas is playing host to this season of Top Chef, I couldn’t resist asking her take on the show: “I feel that we have not …

Continue reading Talking with Top Chef’s Tiffany Derry »

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SPOILER ALERT

Out here in the real world, a week has gone by since we endured the onslaught of Heather-zilla, but we are quickly reminded how fresh the experience is for the rest of the chefs, especially Beverly. She keenly observers, “The universe is full of karma…and it always comes back to you.”

As the chefs continue to swelter in that hotbox of a kitchen and try to ignore the commentary from Heather, Padma re-appears to tell the remaining 10 chefs to pack their bags. Time to get their hipster on and head over to Austin. And you know what that means!

That’s right! Another Toyota Sienna montage!

Highlights: Heather would forfeit $5,000 and immunity for a night with John Besh and Chris C. earned the nickname Malibu for his pretty boy ways. And he would also trade $5K for a night with John Besh and those stunning white teeth.

QUICKFIRE

As soon as the chefs enter the kitchen and see that Tom has “graced [them] with his presence”, they know something …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 8: And the beast was done »

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If you don’t know there are SPOILERS in here, I feel no pity for you.

So we finally have our first villain. After this week’s episode, there is no doubt in my mind that Heather’s abrasive persona isn’t a result of creative editing. You can’t fake that kind of awful.

QUICKFIRE

The chefs enter the kitchen to find Padma and this week’s guest judge Tim Love, a Top Chef Master and chef/owner of The Lonesome Dove in Ft. Worth. And a whole bunch of hooch.

The chefs taste and pick a Don Julio tequila to build a dish around it. Ty-Lor is pumped, both because he is getting sick of being on the bottom and because he freakin’ loves tequila. In fact, it seems all of the chefs love tequila.

I think we all cheered a little inside – or, as in my case, so loud it scared the dog – when Chef Love puts Heather in the bottom, saying that her rock-shrimp dish “felt like a new special at a new chain restaurant.” Chris J. rushes his chicken and overcooks the …

Continue reading Top Chef Texas recap, Episode 7: Time to pay the fiddler »