Top Chef (TV Show)

Style By the Spoonful

John Tesar's newest project is potentially a North Dallas pearl

Top Chef Seattle: Valentine Makes Fun of People While Having a Handlebar Mustache

On last night's Top Chef, the contestants were on a cruise ship headed to Alaska. The QuickFire was two hours long, and they had to feed 200 people innovative dishes using iceberg lettuce. Valentine made a tiny wedge salad. Pretty much everyone incorporated bacon into their dishes. And Padmaboobz wa ... More >>

An Interview with Danyele McPherson of The Grape on Top Cheffing, Tesaring

Danyele McPherson, chef de cuisine at The Grape on Greenville, recently braved the tricky waters of reality TV by appearing on Bravo's Top Chef: Seattle alongside two other local chefs, John Tesar and Josh Valentine. See Also: - Top Chef Seattle Recap McPherson grew up in North Carolina and after ... More >>

Top Chef: Seattle Episode 5 Recap: The Ginger Curse Is Real

Episode 5 starts out at Pike Place Market, and the chefs have to make breakfast for the QuickFire. And Padmaboobz's wearing a lot of layers and pants, so you immediately know that this episode is taking the highway to meh. Things start to maybe possibly look up when Valentine and Tesar end up on ... More >>

The Grape Is Now Run By A New Top Chef

Danyele McPherson just recently returned from taping Bravo's Top Chef, and now has been promoted to chef de cuisine at The Grape. McPherson is one of a handful of Dallas chefs to appear on the show and subsequently run a restaurant. Tiffany Derry and Tre Wilcox focus on high-end dining in upper-cr ... More >>

Pictures from Tales of the Cocktail in NOLA

Greetings from currently rainy New Orleans! I'm here till Sunday checking out the 10th annual Tales of the Cocktail, a gathering of bartenders, liquor reps and booze enthusiasts that draws attendees from all over the nation for a week of seminars, tasting rooms, dinners, parties and general alcohol ... More >>

At Jeff Harris' Bolsa, One Dish Reveals the Chef's Chops

Want to measure a chef? Look to his chicken.

Top Chef Texas Finale: Yayy! We're So Happy For ____ !

Last night was the final episode of Top Chef Tex-Anada, and it played out like a culinary version of the walk-off scene in Zoolander set to symphony music -- a fierce and almost perfectly orchestrated parade of dishes, as we have come to expect from the two remaining chefs. Paul Qui, executive che ... More >>

Top Chef Texas (Canada): Judges Whittle the Final Competition to Two Texans

via Bravo... that damn lonely sliver of arugula.​Just think, this episode's elimination could have come down to a piece of arugula -- a wisp of a flavor dose so tiny it contributed almost nothing to the dish, which was the root of the problem. In the final elimination episode before next week' ... More >>

Private | Social | Ramen! | Oh.

My first run-in with Private Social came just after the restaurant, helmed by Top Chef alum Tiffany Derry released its lunch menu. I noticed the noodles right away. Leslie Brenner and I had been begging Dallas for a proper Japanese noodle house, but it has never materialized. Perhaps a decent hot bo ... More >>

Last Night's Top Chef: Texas Included the Best Elimination Challenge Ever

via BravoThe clawed black chicken, a horrific murder scene on a plate.​Crispy skinned black chicken, perfectly moist, claw still attached, over fois gras and tiny cubes of beet, their blood-like juices splattered on the plate as though the unusual dark poultry underwent a brutal execution -- a ... More >>

Top Chef Texas Highlights: That Heather Lady is a Real Bitch, Ain't She?

photos via BravoNyesha and Dakota were the victims of this week's double elimination.​Lounging on the couch, still rumpled and disheveled from last week's steak dinner competition, Edward coined the gang of chefs the "dirty dozen." "Ooohh, dirty dozen," they laughed in unison in a perfect tel ... More >>

Come On Down: It's Time to Meet the Contestants for Top Chef: Texas

The folks over at Bravo have been teasing out info about the new contestants while they battle in court about your tax dollars. A set of clips released last week compiled a montage of each contestant and some of their dishes, drawn from the videos they submitted to enter the contest. When first pub ... More >>

Top Chef: Texas Starts November 2 With Two Austin Chefs, None From Dallas and ... Pee-Wee!

"Mecca lecca high mecca tiny bit more salt, please."​Finally time to see how your tax dollars were put to work by Bravo and its Magical Elves. As you'll recall, we reported back in July that Governor Rick Perry's office, that bastion of small government, spent $400,000 to promote the state's ... More >>

In-N-Out v. Whataburger, the Wine Wisdom of Andrew Chalk, and More from the Week in Dallas Food Yammering

​This week in Dallas blogs, more people tried to settle the debate between Whataburger and In-N-Out, a restaurant in Pennsylvania banned volume-challenged five-year-olds, and a place that looks like a tattoo parlor produced some damn good lamb shank. Read on. City of Ate Alice Laussade staged ... More >>

Six Letdowns at the James Beard Book, Broadcast & Journalism Awards

Bite us, Jimmy.​Not sure if you guys heard, but this year City of Ate picked up a nomination from the James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards for Group Food Blog, and I was nominated in the Humor category for a feature story we did on fried hamsters. Awesome! We City of Aters were so excited, ... More >>

Chef Tell: It Just Conch Be True

​I'll be kind to you people who will see this pop up but who haven't yet watched last night's episode of Top Chef All Stars, the conch-ed up episode resting listlessly in your DVR. I won't give anything away in this first paragraph where your eyes will involuntarily dart around as much as you wish ... More >>

Tiffany Derry Defends For-Profit Culinary Schools

​Dallas chef Tiffany Derry this week dove into the maelstrom surrounding financial assistance at for-profit colleges, arguing in an essay for The Hill that the government is threatening the culinary arts by withholding loans from students enrolled in career schools. The Department of Educatio ... More >>

Two DFW Chefs in the Running For Food & Wine Prize

Brownstone's Casey Thompson​Proving once again that Austin has a Justin Bieber-like hold on culinary chroniclers' heartstrings, chefs from the capital city scored four of the ten slots in Food & Wine's online "The People's Best New Chef" competition. For the first time ever, Food & Wine's add ... More >>

Top Chef: Get Used to Odd Plating

Richard Blais​A few viewers questioned Richard Blais' decision on last week's edition of Top Chef: All Stars to serve a tuna dish in a silver tin, but experts say restaurant goers should get used to more creative plating techniques. "You're trying to create a memorable dish, and part of that ... More >>

Chef Tell: Finally.

​Real quick, here's a breakdown of last night's Top Chef All Stars so I can get to the point (the real point): There was no Quickfire. The chefs woke up at the ass-crack and drove to Montauk for a four-hour fishing trip. They were split into four teams of three and the goal was to catch as many fi ... More >>

Chef Tell: Top Reasons Why Jamie Should Pack Her Knives And Go

​We don't think there was any question last week that viewers had some issues with cheftestant Jamie Lauren being allowed to stay on Top Chef All Stars instead of our own Casey Thompson. Turns out we of Chef Tell and Cheap Bastard feel all sorts of the same way. In fact, we say of Casey's dismissa ... More >>

Chef Tell: There's Sum-thing Wrong With Dim Judges

​A little housekeeping first, yes? We were relieved from Top Chef All Stars blogging duties during the holidays, but not relieved by the elimination that occurred: Spike, cute and surly Spike, was sent packing after Jamie bailed on competing once again and left him to flounder in the last episode, ... More >>

Before His Super Bowl Return, Tom Colicchio Talks About Changes in Kitchen at Craft Dallas

Bravo​Tom Colicchio just called to talk about today's announcement that Jeff Harris is leaving Craft's kitchen to open a restaurant on Fitzhugh. Colicchio, who still controls Craft following that reworking of his deal with Hillwood in the spring of '09, made the decision himself to hire Tim Bevi ... More >>

Tiffany Derry Finds a Home at Uptown's Upcoming Private Social

​Tiffany Derry, the former Top Chef contestant who was left unemployed when Go Fish Ocean Club closed last month, has accepted the executive chef position at a new uptown restaurant. Derry is now developing the menu for Private Social, the first restaurant from longtime Dallas wedding industr ... More >>

Homesick Restaurants: How Dallas Became a Dining Nowhereville.

Chef Tell: Morgan Wilson Is Still a Winner

​I can hardly believe that this is possibly the last time I'll have the opportunity to mention Dawn Hand Renewal soap. That is, unless they sponsor Top Chef All Stars and then I'm totally screwed. Yes, last night was the finale of the very first season of Top Chef Just Desserts. It was a big night ... More >>

Hard Work Puts Chef Casey Thompson
Atop the Food Pyramid

​In sleuthing around for the primary culinary influences on Casey Thompson -- yes, the same Casey Thompson who first impressed The Mansion's Dean Fearing, bowled over the Dallas dining establishment with Shinsei, wowed the cable-ready food world on Top Chef, and whose Brownstone in Fort Worth ... More >>

Chef Tell: There's a Mouthy Bully from Dallas Named Morgan

​This week on Top Chef Just Desserts Brought to You By Dawn Hand Renewal Because Dawn Hand Renewal Loves Top Chef Just Desserts, renowned cake decorator and beautiful ice queen Shinmin Li guest judged the Quickfire Challenge of edible bouquets. Dallas' own Morgan and Yigit created the top offering ... More >>

Chef Tell: Screams Over Ice Cream and Flaming Sideshow Sweets

​It was all stressy-stress on last night's Top Chef Just Desserts. At the start, Princess Dexter was shaving and talking about his stress. Zamboyant was concerned about the Two Faces of Dex and his stress. Malika the sad divorcee was again discussing her hatred of cooking under stress. B ... More >>

Scott Romano: Going Whole Hog
At a Downtown Jewel

Photo by Robert BostickScott Romano​Since the Observer recently named Charlie Palmer at The Joule the city's Best Fancy Restaurant in this year's Best of Dallas issue, we thought now would be a good time to get a look at the man behind the kitchen, executive chef Scott Romano. Like many of th ... More >>

Florida Chef Sizes Up Dallas Dining Scene

Does absence make the eyes grow clearer? Texas-born chef Steve Shockey, who's been impressing diners in the Miami area for years, recently summed up the differences between Texas and Florida's food scenes for an NBC affiliate. King Arthur FlourDoes this pass for dinner in Dallas?​"The dishes ... More >>

Craft's Jeff Harris: A Chef you Can Bank On

Photos by Robert BostickCraft's Jeff Harris​(This is the first part of a three-part look at Jeff Harris, executive chef at Craft. Tune in tomorrow for a Q&A with Harris and Friday as he demonstrates how to prepare one of the restaurant's dishes.) Jeff Harris was raised in a small town in East ... More >>

Pastry Chefs Getting Their Just Desserts

Dallas' Top Chef: Just Desserts Competitor &Ritz-Carlton executive pastry chef Morgan Wilson​An upcoming dessert promotion is a good deal for diners, but may be an even better deal for the pastry chefs responsible for the free sweets. Bravo has partnered with OpenTable to offer free desserts ... More >>

Chef Tell: Take Them Out To The Concession Stand

​Last night Top Chef opened with our fair Tiffany Derry's boisterous guffaws. Ed, the cheftestant who is her show BFF and who totally adores her, was parading around in one of her dresses. At that point, with just six left in the contest, a little unflattering cross-dressing seemed an appropriate ... More >>

Chef Tell: Restaurant Wars, WTF?

​Ah, yes. The Top Chef fan's most beloved and anticipated episode: restaurant wars.But first, there was the tag team cook-off -- which, personally, I adore without restraint. It's stressful, it's frantic and it's a guaranteed opportunity for me to shout near simultaneous cheers and jeers at t ... More >>

Chef Tell: Keep Your Frenemies Close

​At show's open, everyone's pretending they miss Timothy. It's hard to say who really does miss him and who just wants to look more sensitive after weeks of acting like a prick [cough, Angelo, cough].For the Quickfire, there was some weirdness -- and I'm not talking about the exotic proteins the c ... More >>

Molecular Gastronomy Finally Makes Quantaum Leap to Dallas

Hey, grandpa, what's for supper?​As a remarkable number of press releases this month have pointed out, molecular gastronomy has made its way to Dallas. Stephen Pyles, who "detests the words" molecular gastronomy, is planning to trot out a few mad science techniques for a new tasting menu debut ... More >>

Craft Dallas Cooks Up Sweet Deal
For Hungry Theatergoers

All the people who left these tables at Craft empty during lunch are missing out on a great meal.​Slow biz and showbiz make for a good dining deal at Craft Dallas at the W Hotel in Victory Park right now. With dinner service falling off during summer doldrums, the restaurant is offering a spec ... More >>

Top Fantasies Involving Top Chef Judge Eric Ripert

www.bravotv.comEric Ripert​Just look at him. He is so lovely. His silvery hair is perfection. His French accent is startling considering the time he's lived stateside. And the way he cooks a fish...my word.Used to be, I'd see Ripert pop up on an Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations or as a guest on ... More >>

Pressure Cooker: Everyone in the City Invited to Watch Dallas Top Chef Contestant's Big Night

Tiffany Derry​Go Fish Ocean Club is making sure Top Chef contestant Tiffany Derry has one of the best nights of her life -- or the most humiliating evening ever -- by inviting every eater in the metroplex to join her for the show's premiere this Wednesday. Derry, who serves as Go Fish's execu ... More >>

The Top Ten Smuttiest Food Ads

You probably remember the moment you first saw Jessica Simpson slink into a Pizza Hut and, quite seductively, feed some dorky tween an oh-so-cheesy popper while moaning the line "one of these days these bites are gonna pop right into you." Yeah, it was pre-the now post- Tony Romo and she might have ... More >>

No Defeat in Victory Park for Tom Colicchio, Who's Keeping Craft Open at the W

BravoTom Colicchio and Top Chef host Padma LakshmiAs Victory Park proves less and less victorious in recent months, stories have circulated that Tom Colicchio was considering moving out of the W and plying his Craft elsewhere. To which the Top Chef head judge says: Not a chance. Indeed, Colicchio te ... More >>

I Make An Amazing French Toast. So Where's My Cooking Show?

Uptown Grill

Billy Joel's lady visits Dallas

Victory: That Gasoline Smell...

2007 started with the scent of napalm in the morning

The Cooking World is Tré's Oyster

Wow, Look, There's Another Eccentric Arts Magnet Graduate

Casey at the Palate

Dallas' Top Chefs Make Their Bravo Bow Tonight, So Eat Up