Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from Top Chef -- no, seriously, that's the production company's name -- to succeed in the food field where NBC has flopped in the past. Remember The Chopping Block? Remember Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant? NBC has more luck with the dieters on The Biggest Loser.
This go-round is not about a single restaurant. It's about a chain of restaurants. To me, that's a questionable goal. Most successful chains start off with one great restaurant and then take off. This concept is go big or go home. Maybe it's more complicated, but it doesn't sound that way.
(S06E12) When I saw that the title of tonight's episode was "Culinary Olympics," I didn't really imagine what the chefs would be going through. Were they going to be pole vaulting into the kitchen, did they have to prepare a meal on an ice skating rink? What could be the Olympian angle? Well, apparently there's a culinary competition that's as intense as the Olympics -- and it's not held in a kitchen stadium with Alton Brown doing play by play.
That said, this may have been one of the toughest assignments ever on Top Chef. I tried to envision how past season winners -- let alone the runners up -- would have done in the same circumstances that these final five faced. I can't say for sure that I can think of one that would have aced it ... and for how this five did, read on.
(S06E11) This episode isn't about drama, stunts, or (gasp!) vegetarians. It is simply a case of "we have six chefs and we need to get down to five," so it kind of felt like a filler episode. The guest judge was Nigella Lawson, and while Nigella Lawson would be a welcome edition to any TV show, there just isn't a whole lot going on here.
Although, I will say that the quickfire challenge probably provided foodie fantasy fodder worldwide, as it opened up with Padma in bed, wearing a robe with tousled hair -- and if that wasn't enough, we find that Nigella is also in a robe and in bed as well. Granted, they're different beds, but still: same room. The ostensible reason for this was to to a breakfast in bed Quickfire challenge, but come on-- they didn't have Tom Colicchio in that bed.
(S06E10) After last week's restaurant wars, which I found really disappointing, I was hoping for a really tough challenge tonight. As Hemal guessed, having Natalie Portman as a guest judge did turn this main competition into a vegetarian duel. Oooh, yum. Vegetables. More about the kale and mushrooms after the jump.
There's always an actor or an actress that, for whatever reason, raises your ire so much you can't stand to see the person in anything, be it a TV show, movie or glossy magazine spread. However irrational it is, his or her presence is enough to set your teeth on edge.
This week, I have to decide if my love for the Voltaggio brothers out weighs my dislike of Natalie Portman.
Until recently, I didn't particularly feel one way or the other about Natalie Portman, who's set to be the guest judge on Top Chef this week, but after reading her recent editorial preaching the upside of vegetarianism on Huffington Post, I'm ready to add her to my small but intense list.
If you're a fan of Top Chef, there's nothing tougher for the contestants than desserts. Just this past week during 'restaurant wars,' did you notice that one team decided to have no desserts on their menu at all. They just didn't want to risk blowing it.
Well, Bravo noticed, not just last week but all through the Top Chef series. Bravo's creating a Top Chef spinoff called Just Desserts in which chefs will have no choice, they'll have to deal with sugar, icing, cakes and struedels.
Top Chef: Just Desserts is the second Top Chef spinoff, after Top Chef Masters. I'm anticipating Top Chef: Maitre D's down the road, aren't you?
As far as I can tell, from comments on this site and other sites I've looked at, Top Chef Masters wasn't loved by fans half as much as fans love the original Top Chef. I think fans want two things from their food competition shows: more conflict and a sense that the contestant isn't necessarily a "master" at cooking (though being a chef is fine). For the most part, the chefs on the first season of Masters were nice and professional, and I think that the fact that they're all great chefs already zapped some of the tension that usually comes with the judging segments of the show. Plus the chefs competed in sections, not usually all against each other.
(S06E09) The thing that sets Top Chef apart from similar shows such as Project Runway or Hell's Kitchen, is the level of professionalism on display. While both of those shows have strong contestants, on the whole, the pool seems more amateurish than those on Top Chef. This was clearly evident in this week's episode with the Quickfire Challenge.
The challenge, in which the contestants had to go in blind and complete a dish in ten-minute segments was amazing. I was thoroughly impressed with not only the fact that they could do this in the first place, but with how cool and calm everyone stayed. There wasn't a single contestant who didn't seem completely professional-- a fact that was evident when you saw how impressed guest judge Rick Moonen was with everyone.
(S06E08) Well, things have certainly heated up on Top Chef, haven't they? Oh, I'm not talking about in the kitchen; I'm talking about in the house. These chefs are getting testy, or some are. Eli mentioned in the open that there was a lot of "emotional stress." Well, he should know because he's behind some of it. Then there's motor mouth Robin. Could she really be as yappy as she appears to be on camera?
Given the popularity of the second-season opener of The Next Iron Chef, I figured it was a good time to pull out this interview I did with the show's host, Alton Brown, at the network's TCA party in July. It was definitely the tastiest party of the tour, as each Iron Chef contestant plied the critics with delectable morsels of their creativity at various stations.
In a bit of a surprise, one of the contestants, Amanda Freitag, was being assisted by her friend Ariane Duarte, one of the more popular contestants from rival program Top Chef's New York season (I was so flabbergasted by the turn of events, I snapped a pic of the two with my cell phone). When I pointed this tidbit out to Brown, his response was very interesting...
(S06E07) Here's what I love about this episode of Top Chef: Jen and her illness. Yes, it was lovely how she triumphed over adversity and made a kick-ass dish, but mainly, I like the way that it didn't change her at all. She had the exact same dead-eyed expression and monotone that we've all come to know and love. Sick Jen or well Jen, they're both pretty much dead inside-- and I find her hilarious.
This week's Quickfire Challenge involves a slot machine (as all good challenges in life do). I really enjoyed seeing what the chefs came up with, based solely on three random words that came up on the machine. Even when they pulled words that would seem to make it easy, like Ashley's "Blue Cheesy Middle Eastern," they still don't go in the expected direction: there was no blue cheese in her dish.
Amid the real housewives and matchmakers, millionaire real estate brokers and house flippers, there is one unscripted series that has been top shelf on Bravo. With Project Runway not on Lifetime, the best of Bravo's reality is Top Chef. In the five seasons past and the current season playing out, Top Chef has been a winner for the cable net, so it's not a big surprise that today Bravo renewed Top Chef for a seventh season.
If I were a drinker, I'd drink to that. Top Chef is in the midst of season six, which is shaping up to be one of the best yet. The location, Las Vegas, has opened up a lot of options for challenges, including a French food episode that might have been one of the most intense ever on the series.
Bethenny Frankel of The Real Housewives of New York City has been rumored to be spinning off into her own show for a while. She'll be appearing on the upcoming season of Real Housewives -- they're already filming in NYC -- but then she'll have her own program after that. It will be about her social life in NYC as well as her career as a natural foods chef. Bethenny has lots of personality and should do well on her own.
They're used to fire on Top Chef, but not like this. A battery on a camera exploded as they were setting up to do a shot for the Bravo show, and luckily for us the whole thing was captured by another camera.
(S0605) Last week was a big one, with two contestants being eliminated. I'm all for double-eliminations, since the fewer contestants there are, the easier my job generally is. Though Mattin was spared, he is understandably a little embarrassed, since he's from France and completely biffed the French cuisine challenge. I mean, you don't see Kevin screwing up barbecue or anything.
Tim Love is the guest judge; he's one of those rough-and-tumble types who infuses rustic food into fine dining. So I love the idea of letting the audience choose this week's Quickfire Challenge, but the fact that Top Chef is trying to make me believe that with cactus, snake, and kangaroo as choices, 57% of the people asked for cactus? Shenanigans! You know that vote was for Kangaroo Jack to bite the big one. I simply will not believe otherwise.
Okay, take the idea of Shark Tank (or Dragon's Den if you're a BBC America fan), mix it with the Top Chef folks, offer a great grand prize and hope for the best. That's the recipe behind NBC's new food competition show, United Plates of America. The network is turning to the Magical Elves from Top Chef -- no, seriously, that's the production company's name -- to succeed in the food field where NBC has flopped in the past. Remember The Chopping Block? Remember Rocco DiSpirito's The Restaurant? NBC has more luck with the dieters on The Biggest Loser.
(S06E12) When I saw that the title of tonight's episode was "Culinary Olympics," I didn't really imagine what the chefs would be going through. Were they going to be pole vaulting into the kitchen, did they have to prepare a meal on an ice skating rink? What could be the Olympian angle? Well, apparently there's a culinary competition that's as intense as the Olympics -- and it's not held in a kitchen stadium with Alton Brown doing play by play. 
(S06E11) This episode isn't about drama, stunts, or (gasp!) 
There's always an actor or an actress that, for whatever reason, raises your ire so much you can't stand to see the person in anything, be it a TV show, movie or glossy magazine spread. However irrational it is, his or her presence is enough to set your teeth on edge. 
If you're a fan of Top Chef, there's nothing tougher for the contestants than desserts. Just this past week during 'restaurant wars,' did you notice that one team decided to have no desserts on their menu at all. They just didn't want to risk blowing it. 
Given the 
Amid the real housewives and matchmakers, millionaire real estate brokers and house flippers, there is one unscripted series that has been top shelf on Bravo. With Project Runway not on Lifetime, the best of Bravo's reality is 
Three stars have been born on Bravo! Well, at least three personalities from successful reality shows. 
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