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Articles about Top Chef: Texas

Top Chef: Texas, Finale Recap

This episode almost killed me, but we’ll get to that later.

Part One: The Souz Chef Battle

The judges bring in an eclectic group of chefs to compete for eight souz chef positions: four for Sarah and four for Paul. Two are Master Chefs, six are previous Top Chef Season 9 contestants, and three are contestants who didn’t make it into the top sixteen during those first couple episodes. Remember Tyler Stone, the cocky dude who couldn’t butcher a piece of pork? Yeah, he was there. After the souz chefs cook for 45 minutes, Paul and Sarah choose their underlings based on what dishes they like. Paul ends up with Malibu Chris (who Sarah says is so hot, she can’t cook around him), Keith, Barb Lynch (a Master Chef), and Tylor Boring. Sarah chooses Nyesha (master of sauce-making), Heather, Grayson, and – get this – Tyler, the young whipper-snapper.

“I’m not letting you butcher,” says Sarah.

Please do, Sarah, because then this show would be off-the-charts funny.

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Top Chef: Texas, Episode 16 Recap

[Sorry this is late. I keep getting distracted because Paul Qui is posting creepy photos of fish here and here on Twitter. Yeeea, Paul, I "sea" you.]

It’s down to the three amigos: Pretty Paul, Stinky Sarah, and Lame Lindsay.

Good thing Bev’s gone because this trio has to cook Asian food inside Vancouver’s Chinatown for the Quickfire Challenge. “Asian food is not my forte,” says Sarah. Naw, really? All I’ve seen you do is make pasta and fish. You are lucky Bev isn’t here to whoop you with some of her braised short ribs.

Jump for more cans of whoop @$$.

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Top Chef: Texas, Episode 15 Recap

If you missed this episode, boy do I feel sorry for you. Bev kicked a lot of @$$.

Crazy BRAVO, I guess, was tired of hot-weather Texas and decided to see if the Top Chefs (Paul, Bev, Sarah, and Lindsay) could survive in the frozen tundra of British Columbia. They might as well have been in Siberia. All the chefs, sporting longer hairdos from a couple months off, immediately start hating on Bev the second they reconvene inside Whistler Olympic Park. Sarah’s resolution to “be a really nice person” (… right) turns into a big flop and outcasts Bev from the start. When the final four meet the judges again, Padma begins to explain their elimination challenge, The Culinary Games, which is split into three parts. At the end of each round, one person must die. (Kidding, kidding. Too bad this isn’t “The Hunger Games.”) The winner of each round wins $10,000 and a guaranteed spot in the final three.

Let the games begin!

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Michelle Obama and Top Chefs Promote Healthy Food in Dallas

Michelle Obama cheers on the Red Team (Paul and Grayson)

[Ed. Note: Thanks to Carol for this report. Plus, she took all of the photos. She says: " Big cameramen were blocking me so I had to crawl under people and touched a lot of legs]

First Lady Michelle Obama made a pit stop in Dallas this morning to promote her project, Let’s Move! inside the basketball court of Kleberg-Rylie Recreation Center. Her three-day national tour celebrates the second anniversary of her initiative designed to combat America’s growing obesity problem.

“Healthy food can be good and delicious too,” said Mrs. Obama to a room filled with Nancy Moseley Elementary students, “And that’s what we’re going to learn today.”

As 110 kids cheered, BRAVO’s Top Chefs Paul Qui, Grayson Schmitz, Richard Blais, Fabio Viviani, Jenn Carroll, and Spike Mendelssohn cooked healthy and nutritional meals within a 30 minute time limit under the watchful eyes of judges Tom Colicchio, Sam Kass (White House chef), and the First Lady.

Jump for the play by play.

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Top Chef: Texas, Episode 14 Recap

Part 1: Quickfire/Asian Domination

Last week, the chefs realized that one of the losing contestants (either Bev or Grayson) would be returning through Last Chance Kitchen, which would increase their numero to cinco. Sarah (who looks like Austin Eater editor Andrea Grimes, don’t you think?) is noticeably disappointed when Bev walks through the doors to compete with the other four in this elimination challenge because tiny Bev is a fierce competitor. She is a beast.

Now three out of the five contestants are repping the Asian continent. I would just like to point that out. #minoritypride

Jump for more shenanigans. (more…)

Michelle Obama (and Some Top Chefs) Heading to Dallas

Hello. I am simultaneously chewing on almonds and silently going crazy because I might be standing in the same room as Michelle Obama this Friday. Bravo just announced that Top Cheftestants Richard Blais, Fabio Viviani, Jenn Carroll, Spike Mendelssohn, Grayson Schmitz and Ed Lee will be joining the First Lady on one of her national tour stops for her Let’s Move initiative. The chefs will be competing alongside students from a Dallas elementary school in a healthy cooking competition to promote healthy school meals and nutritious diets.

If anyone knows how I can plant myself on that coveted RSVP list, let’s talk. I’ll pay you in almonds.

Top Chef: Texas, Episode 13 Recap

Pee-wee Herman stops by for a surprise visit.

PROLOGUE

Jonesy’s gone, but five chefs are left
In fair San Antonio, where we lay our scene.
It’s still unclear whose knife skills are best,
At least we know Ed sleeps in suits, not blue jeans.

Jump for the rest of sonnet.

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Top Chef: Texas,Episode 12 Recap


Loren Means has been filing Top Chef: Texas recaps. But Loren is switching jobs at D and her new position will take up what is left of her free time. I thank her for her efforts. Our new editorial assistant, Carol Shih, will take over TCT duties next week. Happy trails, Loren.

The six cheftestants still standing are Paul, Ed, Grayson, Chris, Lindsay, and Sarah. With Beverly gone (I told you she wouldn’t be Top Chef), the chefs seem a bit more relaxed and easy going. They are having fun again. Padma, Emeril, and Chef Cat Cora greet the chefs for the Quickfire.

Hit it…

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Top Chef: Texas, Episode 11 Recap

Loren Means has a lot of different jobs here at D Magazine. Only one is writing the recaps of Top Chef: Texas. I thank her for her volunteer spirit, especially since it appears the show has really gone downhill. However, she loved the lastest episode!  Now let’s get it on.

Mortimer, we’re back! For the first time this season we get an episode that feels smart, interesting, and on point. It actually feels like Top Chef of yesteryear. It was either a really great episode or my expectations have dropped so low that I am now easily impressed. I truly hope it’s not the latter otherwise I am getting as dumb as this show. The seven lucky cheftestants who have made it far enough to laugh with Eric Ripert and bump elbows with Charlize Theron are Paul, Ed, Chris, Grayson, Sarah, Beverly and Lindsay.

QUICKFIRE

The chefs are greeted by Padma and returning guest judge and chef, Eric Ripert.  The chefs immediately pan the room. “I see this conveyer belt in the back. I have no idea what’s going on but I know it’s going to suck for us,” Ed says. I really love Ed’s attitude. I’m serious! He’s sarcastic and dry and I appreciate that. His one-liners have made many an episode bearable.

Jump. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas, Episode 9 Recap

I’m a bad editor. Loren Means turned in her report on Top Chef: Texas and I forgot to hit publish. Here’s her slice and dice take on Padma and her pals.

Zzzzzzzzzzzz. Restaurant Wars! In a real restaurant! Creative control and no lame gimmicks! Finally. Hugh Acheson and Padma are at the Palm Door with the eight remaining cheftestants. Hugh informs them that he wants to see a complete concept from name to design to menu. I love restaurant wars so I’m getting excited and the chefs are getting excited and… it’s boys versus girls. Ugh. Couldn’t they have just drawn knives? Top Chef, we’ve been together long enough for me to tell you this: you’re turning into a gimmick junkie and a sponsor slut. This isn’t a “it’s not you it’s me” kind of a thing. It’s you – you’re boring.

To add some suspense (I was on pins and needles, weren’t you?) Padma flips a coin to see which team will be cooking the first night.  The other team will have the luxury of having an additional day of planning as well as dining at the competitions restaurant first. The coin is tossed and the boys lose. Ty, Paul, Ed and Chris J. will be cooking the first night and Sarah, Beverly, Grayson and Lindsay will cook the next night. Both teams must create a three-course menu with two options for each course. They will have 5 hours to decorate and cook before service begins at their restaurant. With 45 minutes to brain storm their concepts and $7500 to blow at Sur La Table and Garden Ridge the chefs are already feeling the pressure.

Jump. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas, Episode 9 Recap

Loren Means has a lot of different jobs here at D Magazine. Only one is writing the recaps of Top Chef: Texas. I thank her for her volunteer spirit, especially this week because she is not feeling well.  Now let’s get it on.

Something has blown into Dallas and assaulted my sinuses.  I woke up yesterday surrounded by wadded-up tissues I don’t even remember using in the night. Feeling like a bobble head I stumbled to get dressed and ready myself for the day. Then while driving to work and throwing myself one hell of a pity party I was cut off by a Toyota Venza. (True story.)  I practically had to pull a Jeff Gordon maneuver to avoid rear-ending  Cruella De Vil. Thank goodness the Claritin daze hadn’t taken effect just yet. My day started badly and naturally, I blamed Beverly. I will try not to ooze negativity as I take you through last night’s episode of Top Chef: Texas. Too late?  Hold please – I’m making an award.

Jump for molecular gastronomy, barbecue, and Austin. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas, Episode 8 Recap

Loren Means has a lot of different jobs here at D Magazine. Only one is writing the recaps of Top Chef: Texas. I thank her for her volunteer spirit. Now let’s get it on.

And then there were 10. Are they the “Top 10” ? I’m not sure. Ed reminded us last week: “It’s not always the best chef that makes it to the end. I mean you can have a hiccup one night and that’s it. You’re gone.” I think we’ve witnessed that every season. When a certain chef gets cut, you feel outraged and want to scream “INJUSTICE! Not him! Take me! Oh wait, I’m at home eating Ramen. I cannot save him. I can only pick a new favorite.”

Luckily, my favorite, Paul, has been a front runner since the gates opened. I still have a horse in this race and he’s headed to his hometown of Austin, Texas in this episode along with Edward, Ty, Chris J., Chris C., Sarah, Heather, Beverly, Lindsay and Grayson.

Let’s get weird. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas, Episode 7 Recap

Loren Means has a lot of different jobs here at D Magazine. Only one is writing the recaps of Top Chef: Texas. I thank her for her volunteer spirit. Now let’s get it on.

Episode 7 kicks off with twelve cheftestants remaining in the competition for the title of Top Chef. Technically there are still thirteen if we count Whitney who is still alive online in the Last Chance Kitchen (LCK). For now, let’s focus on the “Dirty Dozen” as they refer to themselves. Still in the running: my boy Paul, Grayson, Heather, Chris C., Chris J., Beverly, Lindsay, Dakota, Ty, Ed, Sarah and Nyesha. The episode takes place in Dallas at Le Cordon Bleu School of Culinary Arts. Is anyone else bored?

QUICKFIRE. Padma and guest judge Tim Love, chef/owner of Lonesome Dove in Fort Worth, greet the chefs in the kitchen. Lonesome Dove is known for serving fine game. The menu includes interesting dishes such as rabbit-rattlesnake sausage (guess I have to eat my words about never seeing rattlesnake on a restaurant menu in Texas) and kangaroo carpaccio “nachos.”

Game on. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas, Episode 5 Recap

D Magazine’s Loren Means loves to watch Top Chef: Texas. Therefore, she volunteered to watch all of the episodes this season and write a recap. She’s reviewed episode one, two, three, and four. Today she reports on episode five which takes place in Dallas. Go, Loren.

Episode five of Top Chef begins with the 14 cheftestants headed for “Big D.”  Loaded into three SUVs are Heather, Edward, Chris J., Chuy, Ty, Chris C., Dakota, Whitney, Lindsey, Sarah, Nyesha, Grayson and (saving the best for last) Paul. Spirits are up, stories are being shared, and they are rolling down the barren highways of Texas when they encounter a roadblock. A state trooper directs the cars to the side of the road, where Padma and guest judge John Besh, chef/owner of Luke in San Antonio and August in New Orleans, stand on dry, cracked land ravaged by drought. I kept waiting for tumbleweed to blow by. Bravo should have arranged for that. It would have appropriately set the tone: a Quickfire in the arid lands of Texas.

Quickfire Challenge

The judges inform the chefs that there is a survival kit in the trunk of each SUV that contains supplies for a challenge that will test resourcefulness and inventiveness. The chefs run to the cars, pop the trunks, and are shocked to find survival kits there. Now, I don’t want to be one of those people who talks through movies saying things like “that would never happen” or “no one just rolls over afterwards and goes to sleep like that in real life” but c’mon, where was their luggage? How did the chefs not know there were survival kits in the back of their cars? Anyway, the chefs find inside a variety of canned foods, but no can openers or cutting boards and very few utensils. Chris J. runs to the nearby corn field, exclaiming “fresh is best.” The ground is literally cracked, and he’s hoping to find a moist husk with golden kernels inside. Aw, that’s cute.

Dallas here they come. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas: Episode Four Recap

D Magazine’s Loren Means loves to watch Top Chef. Therefore, she volunteered to watch all of the episodes this season and write a recap. She’s reviewed episode one, two, and three. Today she spills the chili beans on episode four . Go, Loren.

For the fourth episode of the season’s Top Chef: Texas competition, we return to San Antonio to watch the remaining fifteen chefs fight to the death!  Just joshin’ – you know why they’re there. The remaining cheftestants  listed in particular order based on personality and/or skill, are Paul, our resident Texan, Nyesha, Heather, Edward, Chris J. (although I would like to roundhouse kick his sunglasses off the top of his head), Chuy, Ty, Richie, Chris C., Grayson, Dakota, Whitney, Lindsey, Sarah and Beverly.

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE

The chefs are greeted by Padma and guest judges, Mary Sue Millikin and Susan Feniger, chef/owners of Border Grill Restaurants in LA and Vegas and a few Top Chef Masters alums. Behind the judges are bowls of chile peppers and a board listing temperatures and dollar amounts. The heat of a chili is rated by the Scoville Scale varying from 0 (no heat) to 15,000,000 (pure capsaician). The Anaheim pepper usually ranks between 500-2,000 while the ghost pepper tops the edible chart at 1,000,000. According to Chuy, eating a handful of these babies would be “like eating a pile of fire.” (I’ve had a habanero drop me to my knees so I think I’ll take Chuy’s word for it.) The challenge is for the chefs to create a dish highlighting one type of pepper and show the judges you have cojones. The higher the tolerable heat, the more moolah you win. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas Episode Three Recap

D Magazine’s Loren Means loves to watch Top Chef. Therefore, she volunteered to watch all of the episodes this season and write a recap. She’s a Texan, and she’s on Texan stereotype alert. Go, Loren.

I, personally, could have done without the first two episodes required to wrangle out the 13 weaker chefs. It’s just too exhausting. I prefer to start off with the rock stars and get the show on the road. Alas, no one consulted me prior to filming/editing so this is how it was done, and we have had to endure it. Episode three begins and we finally have the 16 chefs who will actually be competing for the title of Top Chef. In no particular order, other than Keith, whom I will list first because he is my favorite, we have Keith, Richie, Lindsay, Edward, Heather, Ty-lor (whom I will now refer to as Ty because they do on the show and now I won’t have to figure out how to make those two dots over the O), Beverly, Chris J., Grayson, Paul (resident Texan), Sarah, Chris C., Dakota, Nyesha, Chuy, and Whitney.

Jump to see what happens.

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Top Chef: Texas Episode Two Recap

D Magazine’s Loren Means loves to watch Top Chef. Therefore, she volunteered to watch all of the episodes this season and write a recap. She’s a Texan and she’s on Texan stereotype alert. Here is her report from last week

Episode 2 of this season takes us back to San Antonio. We only know this because there was a brief glimpse of the River Walk early in the show. If you blinked, you missed it. We open in the stew room (The Bubble) where Molly, Edward, Grayson, and Janine are commiserating and placing bets on how many spots will be left after group three competes. Edward compares the stew room to being in prison, bonds with his fellow inmates, then jokes that if he was there much longer he’d kill the other five chefs to get a jacket. I’m guessing he’d start with Molly since he basically laughed in her face when she said she was a chef aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. When that happened, my hand flew to my mouth while my brain said “oh no he di-int.” Then I laughed out loud just like he did. I’m thinking I like Edward.

Just as a refresher: 11 chefs including Heather, Nyesha, Chris J., Richie, Sarah, Ty-lor, Keith (my current favorite), Chris C., Chuy, Whitney, and Dakota have coats. There are only five remaining spots with 10 chefs left to compete and four on The Bubble. The 11 chefs who have made it through are at their manse in San Antonio sipping Champagne and victory while the other 14 chefs try to avoid bleeding ulcers.

It gets crazy. (more…)

Top Chef: Texas Episode One Recap

D Magazine’s Loren Means loves to watch Top Chef. Therefore, she volunteered to watch all of the episodes this season and write a recap. She’s a Texan and she’s on Texan stereotype alert. Go, Loren.

Top Chef is back and according to Bravo’s tagline for the show, “Everything is Bigger in Texas!” Wow, I wonder where they got that idea. Note to producers: We are bigger than France. And our buildings are NOT bigger than those in New York. So there’s one strike. I suggest you change your promotion from bigger to better. On to the show.

After meeting most of the cheftestants last night–not all 29 of them, but most–I think it’s safe to say we have some very talented people on this season. Tom Colicchio appears more aggressive this season and he kicked them off Simon Cowell-style. Grrr. I like this Tom.

Oh, it gets better. (more…)