Results tagged “padma”

Welcome to the Top Chef Chicago Finale which we shall be live blogging.

Welcome to Puerto Rico, Top Chef fans!

Sit tight, Top Chef fans, and enjoy a recap of this week's activities! We see the bleary eyed contestants slowly waking from a short sleep after what Richard says was more than 40 hours awake. Andrew's culinary morningwood instructs him to either "stab someone or make some amazing food."

Welcome, foodies. Let's revisit last night's episode!

We'll let Mark Simmons get in his shots at Padma and company this week. Watch enough reality television and you have a sense of who's leaving at the beginning of the episode. As bad as many of you wanted to see Lisa be the one packing her knives last week, we knew that Mark was leaving as he was scraping his razor across his face; apparently in Middle Earth they teach men to shave against the grain. He may think that Tom "hates" him, and is you can translate what he said about Art Smith at the 1:05 mark, please do (we can't speak Hobbit). Mark's weakness - besides being obscenely tall for a Baggins - was having an uncanny ability to take simple dishes and make them hard: see his duck a l'orange from the premiere. It may work in the Land of Shire, but not in the Top Chef kitchen.

Okay, kiddies, let’s see what Top Chef is making for us tonight.

Welcome back, Top Chef lovers. Let's see what sweet, sweet love is cookin' in the kitchen this week.

Welcome back, Chicago foodies! We see the chefs in recovery mode the day after the meltdowns we witnessed last week. Jennifer is now calm, after kicking a chair the night before in true whiskey-dad fashion. You know the type: the kind that get all mean and shit after a few drinks, but are sweet as hell the next morning fixing pancakes while the kids shiver in fear at their plates, unsure if they can request eggs. Dale apologizes to Lisa in a way that sounds like, "I'm sorry I yelled at you…it's just that your personality sucks so hard." Lisa greasies, "Dale can go f*bomb himself."

Holy DRAMA, Top Chef fans - the chefs go Jerry Springer on us this week! Let’s tuck in and dive in!

If you haven't figured it out by now, the Chicagoist offices have a "Top Chef" fever. How the makeup artists at Bravo make Gail Simmons (pictured) look not so Canadian, we'll never know. But we thank them.

The show opens this week with some ablutions. Some brush their teeth, others put on make up, while Spike and Andrew go through some sort of male bonding ritual speaking in a tongue with which we are not familiar but which we suspect is not inspired by an infusion of the Holy Spirit.

The show opens to some great shots of Chicago. Sights no one has seen since the warm weather. Stephanie and Valerie are working out, pumping some iron and we learn that they used to work together. Valerie says she is happy to have a friend in the competition “for now…” and those two words foreshadow the next few days to come. Next we see Zoi and Jennifer swap clogs which is the chef equivalent of sharing a toothbrush. Oh, well, they are dating.

By now anyone who cares should have had the opportunity to check out last week's "Top Chef Chicago" premiere episode, which saw former Scylla owner/chef Stephanie Izard win the elimination challenge with her Asian-influenced duck a l'orange that almost had BOURDAIN! making indecent proposals to her. That she came back to lord over all after an auspicious ill-conceived start in the deep dish pizza quickfire challenge and a major bout of nerves saucing the duck (watching her hand shake as she sauces the duck is seared in our brain) should be a major confidence booster.

When we last saw our contestants, they were delivering their pizzas to Rocco Dispirito and Padma for evaluation, complete with red, insulated bags that serve as dinner bells to much of the population. The Chefs coo over Rocco like they met their internet date and she turned out to be HAWT. Bravo spares us the details of every reaction for each pizza. We will, too – but here are some highlights:

Top Chef is back and, according to Padma Lakshmi, tastier than ever. As Padma gives us an overview of the show, we get a brief glimpse of telling scenes to come – mainly, the predominant use of the F-word. And something tells us that this may be the most honest look we get into the back of the house. Winner gets: A spread in Food & Wine Magazine, showcase at the Annual Food and Wine Classic in Aspen, vacation to the French Alps, one hundred grand and all the Glad pimpin’ a person can take.