did anyone link to this yet?
http://thirdcoasttoast.blogspot.com/2008/0...mmer-night.html

good blog about the finale party at room21 last week. the best news, obvs, is that cj is going to be sous chef at dale's new restaurant here in chicago. MEANING. cj will soon be living in chicago. ....awesome.

i'm sure he'll be playing vball at the beach. which means you'll have to get over your fear of water, sand, nets, balls, people, sunlight and summer. we're here to support you.

This is something SF got short-changed on, having been the first in the series. You barely knew where they were filming, and there was no showcasing of SF sights, special features, famed restaurants, or chefs.

im not afraid of water.

Bravo reveals 'Top Chef: New York' cast, series to debut November 12


By John Bracchitta, 10/01/2008

Bravo has revealed the identities of the 17 culinary up-and-comers who will compete on Top Chef: New York, which will premiere with a special 90-minute broadcast on Wednesday, November 12 at 10PM ET/PT.

Top Chef: New York's contestants -- or "chef'testants" as the network terms them -- will be competing for a grand-prize package similar to the show's previous seasons: $100,000 in seed money to help open a restaurant, a feature in Food & Wine magazine, and a showcase at the Annual Food & Wine Classic in Aspen.

"Being in New York this season, we've upped the ante -- because this is our home turf -- so the pressure's on for the chefs to impress us," said Top Chef lead judge and restaurateur Tom Colicchio.

Rounding out the judging panel with Colicchio will be Padma Lakshmi (returning for her fourth season of hosting duties), Food & Wine magazine editor Gail Simmons, and new judge Toby Young.

Young, a best-selling British author and food critic, will replace Ted Allen, the former Queer Eye expert who had served as a judge on Top Chef's last two seasons. Allen wasn't able to participate due to the show's time commitments, according to a Bravo spokesperson. He began serving as the host of Food Detectives, a new Mythbusters-like Food Network series that attempts to debunk food myths, earlier this summer.

In addition, Top Chef: New York will also feature guest appearances by several culinary and mainstream stars including Martha Stewart, The Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges, Eric Ripert, Rocco DiSpirito, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Natasha Richardson.

The 17 new Top Chef: New York contestants -- whose ages range from 21 to 44 -- are:

- Alex, a 33-year-old executive chef from New York, NY who currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.

- Ariane, a 41-year-old chef and restaurant owner from Verona, NJ.

- Carla, a 44-year-old chef and catering business owner from Nashville, TN who currently resides in Washington, D.C.

- Danny, a 26-year-old executive chef from New Hyde Park, NY.

- Fabio, a 30-year-old restaurant owner from Florence, Italy who currently resides in Moorpark, CA.

- Gene, a 33-year-old executive sushi chef and chef consultant from Whitmore Village, HI who currently resides in Las Vegas, NV.

- Hosea, a 26-year-old executive chef and restaurant owner from Taos, NM who currently resides in Boulder, CO.

- Jamie, a 30-year-old executive chef from New York, NY. who currently resides in San Francisco,
CA.

- Jeff, a 30-year-old chef du cuisine from Niceville, FL who currently resides in Miami, FL.

- Jill, a 28-year-old executive chef from Latrobe, PA who currently resides in Baltimore, MD.

- Lauren, a 24-year-old chef tournant from Cincinnati, OH who is currently stationed at Fort
Stewart in Georgia.

- Leah, a 27-year-old sous chef from Scarsdale, NY who currently resides in New York, NY.

- Melissa, a 28-year-old sous chef from Maryland who currently resides in Boulder, CO.

- Patrick, a 21-year-old culinary student from Quincy, MA who currently resides in Hyde Park, NY.

- Radhika, a 28-year-old executive chef from Chicago, IL.

- Richard, a 27-year-old executive sous chef from Long Island, NY who currently resides in San Diego, CA.

- Stefan, a 35-year-old chef from Tampere, Finland who currently resides in Santa Monica, CA.

Interesting that after the Bravo blog sponsor issue that Bordain mentioned on his own blog, he's not participating this year (at least not according to what's been announced). That sucks.

I wonder which 14 of them are gay.

I hope the military chick picks this show as her coming out party.

Just a reminder that the new season starts tonight.

i hope the girl who runs that terrible restaurant on milwaukee and paulina gets the boot.

Radhika of Between Boutique Café & Lounge?

yes. i went there a while ago. drinks werent strong enough and food was terrible. i am willing to give it another shot to see if its improved, but until then i will naysay.

Hmmm...never been there, but good to know.

Padma Lakshmi and Tom Colicchio dish about 'Top Chef: New York'


By Christopher Rocchio, 11/10/2008

Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi said she's glad the series filmed its upcoming fifth season in "The City That Never Sleeps."

"I was so excited for it to be in New York. I really was," Lakshmi told reporters during a Friday conference call. "I mean I'm very proud of this show for, you know, like not only going to fine restaurants... but also really looking at the city holistically."

While Lakshmi was enthused about the culinary competition series filming in New York City for its fifth season, lead judge and restaurateur Tom Colicchio said the setting didn't make it any easier.

"What's interesting about this season, it was somewhat of a difficult shoot. Usually if we're on location somewhere else we sort of create our own little universe," Colicchio told reporters. "I think because we were shooting in New York and we all live in New York, we're going back to our regular lives as soon as we were off the set, at least I was."

Colicchio added that despite the filming location making it "hard to sort of get back into the sort of mindset of the show," he also enjoyed shooting in the Big Apple.

"Obviously shooting in New York lent itself to a lot of just amazing things that New York has to offer - you know, a lot of different ethnic cuisines," he said. "That sort of worked itself into the challenges at a lot of different locations."

Top Chef: New York filmed in Brooklyn over the summer and it is currently slated to premiere November 12 at 10PM ET/PT.

"We shot everything through the finale," Colicchio told reporters. "We'll go back and [film the finale] in January sometime. I don't think we have a location nailed down yet for the finale."

Rounding out the judging panel with Colicchio and Lakshmi are Food & Wine magazine editor Gail Simmons and new judge Toby Young.

"Toby is somebody that I had never met before except for on the set on the first day of shooting that he came in," said Lakshmi. "I didn't know what to expect, but I found him very charming, very witty, and very sweet."

Lakshmi added she "didn't always agree" with Young, but said she was "always very interested to hear his take on things."

"He was brash. He was opinionated," said Colicchio. "He was very funny and witty as well. I really enjoyed working with him."

Young, a best-selling British author and food critic, will replace Ted Allen, the former Queer Eye expert who had served as a judge on Top Chef's last two seasons. Earlier this summer, Allen began serving as the host of Food Detectives -- a new Mythbusters-like Food Network series that attempts to debunk food myths.

While a Bravo spokesperson had told Reality TV World last month that Allen hadn't been able to participate due to the show's time commitments, Colicchio told reporters Food Network actually disallowed Allen's Top Chef participation.

"Ted got a show picked up on The Food Network and The Food Network, they have this little policy," said Colicchio. "That's why you don't see any of the chefs that are on a Food Network show."

Despite the absence of Allen and other Food Network chefs, Top Chef: New York will feature guest appearances by several culinary and mainstream stars including Martha Stewart, The Foo Fighters, Jean-Georges, Eric Ripert, Rocco DiSpirito, Wylie Dufresne, Jean-Christophe Novelli and Natasha Richardson.

"To have all of those palates on one table was, for me, a great, great honor," said Lakshmi. "And, you know, also obviously the Foo Fighters being on was pretty damn cool."

Top Chef: New York's 17 contestants range from 21- to 44-years-old, hail from across the country and have a wide variety of culinary credentials.

"They're an interesting bunch," said Lakshmi. "I thought they really held their own. I think the one thing I noted this season is that it was really interesting to watch the evolution of more than a few of them. I think they really are - were very quick learners. And so some of the contestants over the course of the challenges and weeks really surprised us."

Lakshmi said she feels the keys to succeeding at Top Chef's challenges are composure, using the provided resources and attempting to not only survive to the next round -- but hit the challenge out of the park.

"How can I, you know, do something that's really interesting or do something that's really simple but just execute, you know, execute it to the fullest," explained Lakshmi about the contestants' mindset.

Since the judges are "not privy to all the behind-the-scenes stuff that goes on," Lakshmi added the winner is solely based on their finished product.

"We're not there when they're shooting it. We don't really know much about it," she said. "We strictly judge on food."

Colicchio agreed that "the strategy of winning and getting to the finale is making great food."

"I think it's pretty well documented that we only -- we just [go] each episode to episode and challenge to challenge. We don't look at past performances," he said. "And it's for a lot of reasons. You know, there's a saying in our industry that you're only as good as your last dish."

In addition, Colicchio assured viewers that the Top Chef judges taste everything that is presented to them by the contestants in an effort to ensure that the best participant wins.

"We're getting everything when it's hot, when it's first made so it's not sitting around for five or ten minutes, sitting around wilting," he said. "So much of eating is obviously visual, and so food will start to change very quickly after it's plated. So we're very, very much on top of making sure we get everything, you know, as soon as it's finished."

Lakshmi added the amount of food and lack of time does make the judges' job more difficult.

"The amount of food consumed is staggering," she said. "And also, we -- especially in the first half of the show when we have so many contestants -- you know, I feel and I'm sure Tom would agree the (onus) is on us to make sure we sample every contestant's dish adequately, you know, in fairness. So it does become difficult."

Having been with Top Chef all five seasons, Colicchio said it's been a "mission of the show to try to always find better contestants" -- something he thinks has been achieved despite recent comments by The New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni.

According to The Times, Bruni recently stated Top Chef "gets [young chefs] thinking more about mass-media glory -- about big, quick fame -- than about disciplined professionalism, dedication, sacrifice."

"I find that to be a very strange comment," Colicchio told reporters. "I don't think there are any shortcuts to getting there. I mean there's a vetting process and, you know, you're not going to sort of get through that process if you haven't some sort of skill."

"It's very easy to badmouth the show for - you know, if you're a professional chef for whatever reason because some people look at this as a shortcut to fame. But you know what, most of these guys who have been on the show, if they don't back it up in their everyday life they're going to fade away, you know, a year from now. They're going to have their 15 minutes."

Lakshmi -- not surprisingly -- also defended Top Chef and said nothing the contestants do escapes the cameras.

"I think Top Chef is a great opportunity," she said. "If you're lucky enough to actually make the cut and be one of the contestants, it's just a chance to show if you're good or not. But if you're not good, you're not going to last on the show. And that comment about how TV and media has changed, you know, the food industry, guess what? The TV and media have changed all of our lives in every industry."

In addition, Lakshmi said Top Chef contestants aren't the only ones who benefit from the show.

"I think that Top Chef also does a great service in informing people about food and cooking technique, and eating right and using good local ingredients," she said. "You'll see that a lot, especially on this season. And so for that, too, I think it - yes it has - TV has changed the way people look at food for the good, you know, for the better I believe."

Stephanie Izard's Mediterranean bistro is now due to open sometime in June or July according to an interview she gave to the Sun-Times. I'd like to meet her.

I don't know if I can keep watching this show if they keep on showing ads for the real housewives of atlanta/orange county. Who watches that trash?

i was actually just talking about how trashy/awesome the real housewives of atlanta is with my roommate, ladytron: something. shit is kind of hilarious in a ha that botoxed forty year old woman wants to be a famous pop star kind of way.

yea. gonna add it to my netflix queue.





^^more plz

did a shot with her on Sunday! she's a friend of a friend and now a texting buddy with my wife. she's very cool and totally down to earth...

as far as the new season goes, that Finnish dude is gonna win.

Howard Stern's black sister everyone.

or

Big Bird's black sister everyone.

I sort of have the hots for her.

I hate this Stefan guy already. Who gets into an argument about Vinaigrette? Who?

But as far as someone I'm rooting for? No one. I don't like any of them off the bat.

I did this, too. Roommate and I agreed that that show must be the greatest trainwreck on television. I don't see how it could be anything but.


oh, and who cooks something that they had never dealt with before? that's just a silly thing to do.

The guy was just a culinary school student. He was a dead man walking from the opening credits. Culinary students and caterers? The first few weeks will be all about weeding out the riff raff.

However, I'll be totally rooting for the guy who started as a dishwasher and worked his way up through the kitchen.

Eugene! I forgot him! He's the only one I give a damn about then. That's who I'm rooting for.

yeah, so far the Hawaiian little scrapper dude is my favorite... but there is no way somebody who never went the culinary school is going win.

I didn't catch the first 30 minutes or so of this. I was reminded it was on around 930, so I flipped it on and missed everyone's backstories.

Still, the dude being just a culinary school student is pretty impressive I think to have made it on the show at all. I dunno. I only have seen maybe a season or so of this, so I dunno if that's a common thing or not.


Whatever, I still say good riddance, noodle cooker.

The short lesbian w/ all the tats is my fave so far. And the tall gorgeous blonde guy, Jeff, I think.

Also, Housewives of Orange County is a entertaining show. If only for the ridiculousness of it all.

the first challenge only made me think of Hot Dougs

and how Doug would have destroyed any of these chumps

Fabio is the mack.

yep, that's all i could think about too... then my mouth started to water a little bit. i'll be there for lunch tomorrow.

so after this week, i am starting to dig that little blond lesbian and the dirty italian as well. still no obvious favorite yet. i also like the new yorker girl, maybe italian, with the big knock knocks.

that tall skinny black chick makes me feel like a crazy person every time i see her on the screen.

There is no hot dog that matches a classic Chicago Vienna Hot Dog.

I hate the smugness of NYers when it comes to street food. NY pizza is shit and so are the hot dogs. Fuck you.

Amen.

totally... our junk food is the best in the country.

The European guys are so obviously going to either hook up in the hot tub one night, or get kicked out for enlisting the others to hold one down while the other tries to shave his ass. Beyond that, I haven't wanted to root for anyone immediately - definitely no CJ or Stephanie so far...

At least NY has street vendors. It's nigh impossible to find one here except for Maxwell St. market and certain Mexican neighborhoods (26th Street in particular.)

But, yeah, Chicago hot dogs kick NY hot dogs ass. Gimme a natural-casing Vienna Beef or Chicago Red Hots over Nathan's or Gray's Papaya/Papaya King any day. However, I do prefer most east coast pizza over Chicago pizza, with a few exceptions.

Binko, how dare you blaspheme in here... you prefer NY pizza?! i always thought you had heart(-burn).

Damo speaks the truth.
Nathan's hot dogs are horrible. Beyond horrible.

I like the black Big Bird and the two foreigners. And the blond lesbian.
Jill was horrible, I'm glad she's gone. Ariane is next.

I wish they could've sent Jill AND Ariane home last night.



I'm rooting for the bald guy w/ the goatee who almost got eliminated last night. I don't think he'll last, but he's earnest.

I'm intrigued by Fabio's 'spherical olives,' whatever they were.

I generally prefer East Coast or Neapolitan pies to standard Chicago thin. Now, most New York pizza is pretty mediocre, but the stuff that's good (Patsy's, Grimaldi's, Una Pizza Napoletana, etc.) I prefer to Chicago cracker crust. For me, the dough is the most important part of the pie, and those East Coasters and Italians know how to turn out a beautiful crust, with a little bit of char, and a delicate balance of toppings. My favorite overall pizza in Chicago would be the one from Coalfire, and that pretty much showcases the style that I enjoy the most. I only wish Coalfire made their own mozzarella.

Now, when it comes to Chicago pizza, I do like the cracker crust style as exemplified by Vito and Nick's. It's head-and-shoulders above any other cracker crust pizza I've had in Chicago. Marie's would be a distant second. I also enjoy Pat's from time to time, and used to like Candlelight, but that place has become a bit inconsistent. Otherwise, I'm pretty much disappointed with most Chicago thin crust pizzas. From time to time, I definitely enjoy a deep dish (Pequod's, Burt's, Malnati's), but only one or twice a year.

you just named like 5 or 6 places i have never even heard of... damn.

Well, let's see. Vito & Nick's, Marie's, and Candlelight all regularly show up on Chicago best pizza lists. I think Time Out named all three of them in their last pizza round up (in the spring, IIRC). Vito & Nick's (84th & Pulaski) was also recently taped for Food Network's Diner's, Drive-ins, and Dives. It's just another neighborhood bar on Chicago's Southwest Side that happens to make (in my opinion) the best cracker crust in Chicago. The place is a real throwback, and looks like it hasn't changed in fifty years. Be sure to note the carpeting on the wall. The fanciest beer they have on tap is Old Style, and they don't take credit cards. Look at how thin and beautiful this thing is:



Marie's (4127 W. Lawrence) is another time warp with its 70s-era red-vinyl upholstered booths, mirrored walls, and tuxedo-clad bartenders. None of it is meant to be ironic or hip--like Vito & Nicks, it's just frozen in time. I find Marie's pizza to be slightly thicker than Vito & Nicks and the sauce is not quite as heavily spiced. East Coast pizza snob/NYTimes food journalist Ed Levine (author of "Pizza: A Slice of Heaven" pretty much completely skips over Chicago pizza in his book, but when I heard him on local radio here in 2005 plugging his book, Marie's was one of the local joints he mentioned liking (although with Coalfire and Spacca Napoli now in Chicago, he might find more pizzas to his liking on a return trip.) Marie's also has the distinction of being attached to liquor store. Personally, I like to visit Marie's from time to time for its old school charm, but their pizza doesn't completely knock me over like Vito & Nick's does. It also tends to be on the greasy side, but no round-up of Chicago thin crust is complete without a mention of Marie's.



Burt's (8541 Ferris, Morton Grove) is Pequod's, but better. Burt Katz used to run Pequod's in the 70s, so he's continuing on the great Pequod's tradition up in Morton Grove, and serving up deep dish, caramelized-cheese crust pizzas in his own eccentric way. When Saveur decided to do its first single-city issue in October 2007, Chicago was the city honored, and Burt's pizza graced the cover. Word to the wise: if you go to Burt's call ahead. He's a lovable, but idiosyncratic motherfucker, and he really wants to know ahead of time how many pizzas he'll need to be making, when you plan to arrive, etc., so everything will be ready for your visit. It's not absolutely required, but it is strongly encouraged. Try not to be late. Burt's masterpiece:



Candlelite (7452 N. Western) I'm a little more tepid in recommending. It's very hit-and-miss, has changed owners in the time I've been going there, and since the newest owners, has been a little uneven. That said, it's worth a shot, as when they're on, they have a superb ultra-thin cracker-crust. And the garlic fries are awesome.


Coalfire (1321 W. Grand) exemplifies East Coast/Neapolitan pizza. Technically, it's supposed to be New Haven-style pizza, with the coal-burning oven and all. It's much lighter on the toppings than a typical Chicago thin crust, and the dough is completely different: charred and slightly crisp on the outside, chewy in the center. The flavor is reminiscent of naan straight out of the tandoor. If you're only used to Chicago-style thin crust, this may take some getting used to for you. Here's what a pie looks like:



Next on my list to try is Pizza Art Cafe (4658 N. Rockwell) for their Neapolitan pies baked in a wood-burning oven and the similarly named, but unrelated, Art of Pizza (3033 N. Ashland) for their deep dish, which apparently has been getting rave reviews.

nice, thanks Binko... i think i've actually been to Vito and Nick's with my cousins from Oak Lawn years ago...

they're big on Beggar's... we were an Aurellio's family, the original in Homewood. it's my dying meal.

Oh, yeah, Aurelio's. Can't go wrong with that. I've never had a Beggar's Pizza, though.

same here.

i think if my dad had his way, we would eat nothing but their food. pastas. pizzas. salads. everything. every night of the week. every morning. every afternoon.



dude loves himself Aurellios.


and have you ever heard about their pizza sauce? i heard they add some jelly to it to give it that extra sweet omph. i'm not complaining nor am i sure this is a truthful rumor. what i do know, tho, is that their sauce is amazing.

It's been years since I went to Aurelio's and I couldn't remember why I stopped going. You've reminded me. Like Palermo's, they've got that really sweet tomato sauce (which we call "sugar sauce" around here.) Their pizza was perfect, except that I don't like sweet tomato sauces. Same with Palermo's. I like the overall impression of the pie, can't stand the sauce. I don't remember Aurelio's being quite as flagrant with the sweetness as Palermo's, though. I'll have to go back soon and research....

i'm pretty sure they use honey in their sauce.

love the way Aurelio's can get their cheese nice and crispy too... have to request having your pie cooked in the old oven.

mouth = now watering

Thanks for the tip. I like my pies "all the way" (well done). Is the Homewood location still there?

I don't care if Ladytron doesn't like her restaurant, Radhika is the only one on here that I really like, though I doubt she makes it past the middle of the pack at best.

Stefan is the one to beat.