2013 Archives

Episode #11 – Back To School Special

College is the place for experimentation, not boring shrimp.

But first! For the Quickfire challenge, the chefs have to cook drumsticks. For a drummer, because Top Chef loves the puns all of a sudden. Specifically, they’re cooking for Questlove of the The Roots, which is awesome. In a slightly awkward moment, he’s there to plug his restaurant which has since closed. Oops.

Next up, the chefs “go back to school” as they keep saying. Really they’re just going to a school, but it’s hard not to be cute. They’re at LSU (the only university with a live tiger, apparently).

They cook for 500 students, which is amazing, and they do it without well distributed cooking equipment. Who will help the kids put on the freshman 15 and who will make them wish they didn’t have a meal plan? Find out.

Also, if you haven’t, you should definitely watch Behind the Mask on Hulu.

In comments, tell us if your college experience was mostly about stealing food OR when you became a foodie.

BONUS! Interview with Top Chef’s Executive Producers

Holy crap, you guys. Something really amazing happened. I got permission to interview Nan Strait (executive producer of Top Chef seasons 1-10) and Hillary Olsen (EP of TC11) from Magical Elves!

I got them both on the phone and grilled them about the Knife Block, pea puree, and many other important topics. Oh, and by grilled, I mean I was a bit nervous and I asked them softball questions. But it was really fun and I learned a bunch of stuff about Top Chef. I hope you do too!

Episode #10 – Cook Your Mom’s Food

Every week the chef’s say they want to be able to cook their own food. But it turns out their also pretty good at cooking their moms’ food. But first, a Quickfire that features the unsubtle sponsorship of Dunkin’ Donuts. Here, guys. Cook something with our sponsor’s coffee on it.

Once that’s over and Shirley has a new air conditioner, it’s time for a very straight-forward challenge that lets the chefs excel: Cook something that reminds you of home.

But cooking well and thinking about your kids can make some people emotional.

But he still cooks so well, Anthony Mackie wants to be his daughter.

What do you crave when you go home? (Is it cheese?)

Also, stay tuned in a couple days for a very special Pack Your Mics Extra!

Episode #9 – The War of the Restaurants

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! No, not the holidays. Restaurant Wars! It’s our favorite challenge of the Top Chef season and this one lived up to the hype. Who will pop up better? The ego driven team at Found?

Or will it be the Bad News Bears of restaurant Fin?

And more importantly, who will go home? An executive chef or a front of the house person?

In the comments, let us know what you’d call your restaurant if it was going to war.

Episode #8 – Hip Tang and The Pig Gang

New Orleans is a cool town. It’s got some great food and more than a couple weird musicians. So challenge number one is making hot sauce for the word-inventor king of swamp funk, Dr. John.

It’s hard to tell what he’s saying, and Padma doesn’t seem thrilled to have him there. But we are. (If you want to see Dr. John actually do something besides eating hot sauce and mumbling, check out this video).

For the elimination challenge, we lost Dr. John but we got… a gigantic dead pig. Which the chefs have to “use the whole animal” (as in eat some face and feet, not as in, leave no evidence a pig used to exist here). They serve this pile of pork to 150 guests in a swamp party and it’s shockingly good. Every bite. All three of the bottom chefs made delicious food. That’s life on season 11.

We also discussed Richard Blais’s new show (Cook Your Ass Off, h/t: Julia). What’s your other favorite food program? E-mail us, or leave a comment below, or hit us up on Twitter or Facebook.

Episode #7 Tough Potluck

Trumpeter, cook, and weird smiler Kermit Ruffins joins the chefs for a series of forced musical tie ins.

Cooking is like improvisation in music… in that sometimes there’s a trumpet? And then there’s a potluck for a group of musicians, except instead of a potluck, it’s a party catered by professional chefs? Let’s not be too picky about names (who do we think we are, Tom?). Instead let’s just revel in the fact that the chefs didn’t all blow it this week.

And let’s try not to be too sad for this public vote of no-confidence in Patty.

We also talked about which Top Chef restaurants we’ve eaten at (here’s the map of them all in case you want to try). Got more questions? E-mail us or leave a comment below.

Also, we’ve now got our own Twitter and Facebook accounts! Be our friends!

Episode #6: Cream of the Cheese

Top Chef has a lot of sponsors. They’re everywhere from when you leave the GE Monogram kitchen, get in the Toyota Rav 4, and drive it to Whole Foods. But in this week’s episode, there’s also sponsorship oozing out of every single dish.

That’s right, despite it being an emphasizing “farm to table” food, every dish has to have the processed taste of Philadelphia cream cheese. And while they can’t come out and say it, the performance of the chefs tells me they weren’t happy. The food they produce makes Tom look like this:

So jump on in and listen to our take on Episode 6 of Top Chef and be sure to tell us in the comments what processed food you’d like to see the chefs cook with and who will end up working front-of-house in restaurant wars.

Episode #5: Spoooooooky Rice Balls

Top Chef has never shied away from holidays, celebrities, and the occasional vegetarian meal. So why not do all three? Because the chefs will blow it, that’s why.

Despite the fact that the show films during the summer, the crew decides to pretend it’s Halloween for Lea Michelle. She’s “throwing a costume party” and wants “spooky” (doesn’t happen) food that’s also “vegan” (she loves cheese). All of those different curve balls prove too much for the chefs who manage to make food that’s not spooky, and in most cases, not tasty.

This is all after an adorable Quick Fire where Padma and Gail bring their moms on for a foil-covered shopping spree. And in the web-only Last Chance To Be On TV, all the eliminated chefs compete for the right to be still ranked above Ramon.

Take to the comments now to let us know who your favorite celebrity guest on the show was (or least favorite, I’m looking at you Pee Wee!). And while you’re there, tell us your favorite Top Chef villain of all time and what it takes to be the villainiest villain.

Episode 4: Vietnamese Discomfort Food

The question of the day: Is Vietnamese cooking a sexually transmitted skill?

That’s what the chefs need to figure out because Travis (who said in episode one he only sleeps with Asians) is getting a chance to cook his favorite cuisine: Vietnamese. But will a rockabilly chick with a knowledge of lettuces help or hurt the team? And can anybody stop James Beard nominee for chef badassery (and James Chef nominee for great beard having)? Maybe it’s Shirley who would be upset if she lost a Vietnamese challenge despite being from a way different part of the giant continent of Asia. Maybe it’s doe-y eyes with the tasty but ugly desserts. Let’s all agree it better not be Malcolm Gladwell.

Episode 4 also raised a really interesting question. Should a guy with too much lemon grass offer to share? Let us know your thoughts in the comments and also be sure to tell us the classic dish you’d like to see re-imagined!

Episode 3: Commandeer The Palace

Top Chef New Orleans returns for a double elimination episode. That’s right, somebody’s going home in the Quick Fire AND the Elimination Challenge. It’s heartbreaking, but at least there aren’t so many chefs on my TV.

For the Quick Fire, the chefs tackle four of Dana Cowin’s current pet peeves: bacon, eggs, kale, and smoke. No, they don’t just make one delicious omelette. Twice this episode we get to play “Which is the bigger sin?” Is it too salty, or something EXPLICITLY FORBIDDEN IN THE CHALLENGE?

Elimination time, and the contestants (notice how I’m not calling them cheftestants?) have to recreate famous dishes from the legendary New Orleans restaurant Commander’s Palace… for the chef’s who invented them. It’s a crazy difficult assignment, even for the judges. They have to taste this many things:

Who can remember which of those strawberry dishes was the best? Acheson, that’s Hugh.

In the comments, tell us which is the bigger sin, undersalting or overcooking? While you’re at it, let us know who you think is going to be aroud for restaurant wars and what mistake would send your knives packing.

Year: 2013