How did Sarah Grueneberg do in last night's finale? Read on. more ›

Let's hope this week's Top Chef isn't not some sort of weird replay of Extreme Chef. more ›

We are entering this week with high hopes that this episode will be more cooking competition and less Japanese game show. Let's see! more ›

The final four is set. Who will take it all next week? more ›

Eric Ripert shows up this week. So does Charlize Theron, as the chefs prepare Snow White-themed dishes. more ›

It's "Restaurant Wars" week on "Top Chef: Texas." All the previews for this week's episode imply that the women cave in on themselves, crash and burn. We suspect a fake-out. But maybe it's a double fake-out and we're about to watch their destruction. more ›

Time for some Texas BBQ at the Salt Lick! more ›

Sarah Grueneberg, a contestent on the current season of Top Chef, will face off against her mentor Tony Mantuano, a contestant from Top Chef Masters Season 2. more ›

And karma draws a bead on one of our local chefs. more ›

Get your game face on because things are about to get ugly. more ›

We catch you up on the past three episodes in this recap. more ›

Chef Gruneberg, who is the Executive Chef at Spiaggia when she's not off being fabulous, has created an Genoa-inspired wrap. Proceeds go to the Greater Chicago Food Depository. more ›

Six chefs will compete to create the best Buche de Noel, and guests will vote on the winner. Plus food, drink and live music! more ›

The final 16 contestants have to deal with rattlesnakes and cooking for a quinceanera. more ›

The field for Top Chef Texas will now been narrowed down to 16. Let the games begin! more ›

The latest season of Top Chef kicked off last night, with a strong showing from the six Chicago "cheftestants." more ›

Learn about our hometown contestants, the show's new features and more - and be sure to watch tonight! more ›

Six Chicago chefs are going to be in the first round of Top Chef Season 9, and Amanda Rockman's funnel cake led to her removal from Top Chef: Just Desserts. more ›

Hometown hero Amanda Rockman, pastry chef of The Bristol, starts her run on Top Chef: Just Desserts on August 24th. We're rooting for her - her Apple Basque Cake is one of the only desserts in town that genuinely makes us swoon. Heck, it taught us the meaning of swoon! Her thoughtful, sweet-and-savory concoctions are one of the best parts of dining at the Bristol, so hopefully the show will inspire you to head in and start eating. more ›

If you're a Top Chef fan (or, more specifically, a fan of Mike Isabella or Antonia Lofaso) hold onto your hats - Top Chef: The Tour is coming to Chicago next week. Two events next week will showcase competitions between two of our favorite all-stars. Isabella, from Season 6 and Lofaso, from Season 4, will face off on Tuesday and Wednesday - and it's free. more ›

Anyone who didn't watch Top Chef last night should watch this video immediately. Anyone who did? Relive the memories. The Top Chef gang was joined by some of the Muppets from Sesame Street, who judged a cookie making challenge. Cookie Monster (who spent much of his time trying to eat the tablecloth) Elmo and Telly joked, snarked and eventually judged. The contestants look like they can't decide whether to be thrilled to meet childhood heroes or appalled that their cuisine is being judged by hand puppets. As one of our tweeps remarked, after about ten seconds, we might've put Elmo under the salamander. We kid! more ›

Perhaps no one is more hungry for redemption than Levitski, whose rise, fall, and second rise were famously chronicled in articles by the Trib and Time Out Chicago around this time last year. The Cliff Notes version: after the show, Levitski returned to Chicago, fell into a depression, suffered financial hardship, became addicted to daytime television, and started drinking. His mother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away, and his dream of opening his own restaurant, Town & Country, fell victim to the economic downturn. Eventually things turned around when Levitski took over Sprout restaurant, a French-American Bistro in Lincoln Park, with his friend (and fellow Top Chef contestant) Sara Nguyen. more ›

For the few of you who have been watching "Top Chef: Just Desserts," former Aigre Doux pastry chef Malika Ameen looked like one of the more solid candidates in the competition, although the competitive nature of the "Top Chef" franchise seemed to drain her. Still, it was a bit of a surprise last night when, after flooring Gail Simmons and the judges panel with her saffron panna cotta last night, Ameen asked to be eliminated from the competition. She cited her desire to cook and being a single mother wanting to return to her three kids as reasons. more ›

Top Chef contestants received a surprising treat (or trick, depending on your politics) last night when Illinois' 18th District Representative Aaron Schock paid them a visit to discuss lobbying, ethics and food on a stick. more ›

The Top Chef Tour is in its 3rd incarnation; the promotional tour for Bravo's hit show is stopping at 21 different cities. Tomorrow and Friday, Top Chef's 18-wheeler semi will pull onto East Illinois (at N. Michigan Avenue) and bring with it enough gear to set up an impromptu restaurant-ish space with table seating and the personalities of two former Top Chef contestants. Season Six's Mike Isabella (remember that snickery giggle of his?) and Kevin Gillespie (whose beard has a facebook fan page) will be the featured chefs. more ›

If you are out any night this weekend in the Gold Coast be on the lookout for the Ketel One Canteen for some free late night vittles and a ride home. The vodka brand food mobile is serving complimentary gourmet food from Top Chef Master Rick Bayless including pork tinga tacos, roast poblano and potato tacos, and black bean/chorizo tortas. It sounds like music to our bellies especially after a night of holiday drinking. To sweeten the deal even more, Ketel One will offer complimentary rides home on a first-come-first-served basis in high-end vehicles. more ›

Heyyyy, Top Chef Fans! We're getting ready to liveblog the finale of Top Chef Masters. Our esteemed Editor is watching at Frontera with Chef Bayless along with Benjy Lipsman. We'll be getting updates from him on what's going on there, too. Here's his first: more ›

Quickfire. Oooo, yes! The palate test! Each chef will be blindfolded and will taste 20 ingredients which they are then asked to identify. Each chef will receive stars relative to the number they identified correctly. Let's touch on some notables: Michael thinks hoisin sauce has a texture unlike anything he's ever put in his mouth before. He thinks marscarpone is sour cream. Fortunately, he's able to identify oregano. Hubert does well until he identifies poppadom as potato chips. We have to say...it looks like they went easy on these contestants compared to our regular group of contestants. Some of the ingredients include: corn, peanut butter, ketchup, and maple syrup. This makes us want to do our own blindfold taste test. Now here's a kicker. Rick Bayless knocks back some hoisin sauce like it's a shot of vodka and says, "Ranch salad dressing." No lie, folks. He identifies mango as plum. Anita blanks on hoisin. Heh. She pegs dashi, though. Here they are in order of how they did and the number of stars they received: Michael (7) - 5 stars. Rick (6) Anita (6) - each get 4 stars. Hubert (5) - 3.5 stars. more ›

Last week, Suzanne Tracht was sent home, leaving to compete this week: Chef Hubert Keller, Chef Michael Chiarello, Chef Anita Lo, Chef Art Smith, and Chef Rick Bayless. The chefs walk into the kitchen and a stack of cheeseburgers and fries on a table. Choi wastes no time and we begin the Quickfire. more ›

With a huge hand clutching a glass of Austrian sparkling wine, David Cleverdon slowly gestured across the seemingly endless verdancy surrounding us like a compass searching for True North and said, "You're catching us at the beginning of a transition. Tomorrow, trucks will be coming to the farm and tearing up the land as we start laying the ground work for the future of Kinnikinnick Farm." more ›