Did the Right Chef Go Home on TOP CHEF?

In the aftermath of Jen-gate, the all-stars are shocked and undoubtedly making mental notes to hold their tongue if and when their time comes at Judges’ Table. What an emotional and mental wreck it must be for them to see who they deemed a primary competitor of the group be picked away so soon and so suddenly. But the show must go on.

The cheftestants march into the kitchen, to see David Chang, who is kind of a big deal, and a bit of a step up from Joe Jonas. Padma informs them that for the quickfire, they will be broken in to teams based on whom they are already standing next to. (This is why I always sat by friends in class, in case teachers would pull stunts like this when splitting us into groups!) Fabio is happy with his team, even with Angelo, though he “wears his pants a little too tight” for his liking. (Pot, meet kettle.) Spike is happy to be once again teamed with his idol/love of his life Richard Blais, but Stephen he could do without. “He can open a bottle of wine for us,” says Spike. Ouch. But true.

Read more

TOP CHEF: ALL STARS Make Kiddie Food for Joe Jonas. Wait, What?

Now that the first elimination is out of the way, the remaining cheftestants are simultaneously relieved and on-edge. They survived one challenge, and are just glad to not be in last place. But if it wasn’t apparent that this competition is tough, it sure is now that someone has actually been sent packing.

The quickfire challenge has teen heartthrob Joe Jonas serving as judge. Youthful Spike knows who Joe Jonas is. Antonia has a young daughter, so she knows who Joe Jonas is. Dale T. does not know who Joe Jonas is, and thinks he might be a pastry chef. Hah.

The challenge is to create a midnight snack for a children’s sleepover at the American Museum of Natural History. Chefs always hate cooking for kids because of their unsophisticated palettes. But if I didn’t know any better, I could’ve thought they were asked to cook for aliens the way they were complaining and scrambling for ideas.

Read more

GLEE: A Very Glee Christmas

There are times when GLEE’S overly saccharine, somewhat-preachy, borderline-ridiculous plot makes me long for the subtle poignancy of the Pilot (and to varying degrees, the rest of Season 1.) But if there were a time to be forgiving of such shortcomings, it would be Christmas, am I right? There was plenty of “that’s not what Christmas is all about” sappiness, and everyone trying to do the right thing *yawn* but you know what? I was okay with it. We DO need a little Christmas. And there are worse things this show could do than spread the joy.

Read more

TOP CHEF: ALL STARS Brings Back Big Talent, Big Egos and Some Delicious Eats

I’d like to take a moment to welcome Samantha Simorangkir to Team GMMR. She’s going to be covering TOP CHEF for us this season and we are thrilled to have her on board. No doubt she’s going to fit right in. Welcome! — Kath

The heat is definitely on in the TOP CHEF: ALL STARS kitchen! Loved seeing familiar faces, a few changes (hello, sleek new black chef’s coats!), and an interesting new dynamic. They’ve all been through the process before, and the added theme of redemption is palpable. And the way the producers incorporate the history of the show into new challenges is great fun to watch.

To stir the pot even further, the grand prize has been upped to a cool $200,000. Nice. So the stakes are twice as high, everyone wants to win twice as bad, and they’re all doubly worried about being the first to leave. As Dale L. put it, “I would be very embarrassed to go home first.”

The first quickfire challenge appropriately addresses all the smack talk over which season was the best. Chefs are broken up into teams according to their season, and get the opportunity to put their knife skills where their mouths are. My initial reaction was that those teams with more members have an unfair advantage. But then again, too many cooks…

Read more

Are You Ready for the Delicious TOP CHEF: ALL STARS?

Tonight at 10pm is the premiere of TOP CHEF: ALL STARS, where fan favorites from past seasons (none of which are former winners) will be pitted against each other in what promises to be a lively battle of culinary badassness. There is no shortage of talent in this group, and if their previous appearances are any indication, we will be served plenty o’ drama.

It’s hard for me to even pick a winner. So many of them were my favorites. Elia, Casey, Jennifer, and Tiffany Derry were all my favorite women of their respective seasons. My heart broke a little when Tre was voted off too soon. Carla was pure joy to watch, and I wanted to be friends with her.

But I think I’ll be rooting for Richard Blais. He was consistently good, confident without being a douche, creative, and passionate about molecular gastronomy without it being overkill (i.e. Mr. Foam-everything Marcel).

I’m also excited to see how Spike does. He’s the only one whose food I’ve actually tasted – at Good Stuff Eatery in Washington, DC – and he makes a burger that leaves me speechless. He could probably use the ego boost, too (not.)

Speaking of egos, there’d better be a smack down between equally conceited Fabio and Angelo. And between Fabio’s thick accent and Angelo’s often unconventional behavior, there’s bound to be some misunderstanding. Arrogance and confusion. Delicious.

Read more

« Previous Page