By Iron Chef Leftovers

It appears that the new season of Top Chef, is going to be a big one – there are going to be 29 contestants. I am really not sure how this is going to work (why do I see team eliminations leading to the entire team being eliminated), but it seems like it is going to be too confusing to figure out who is who for a while. In the long lineup, there are 4 Seattle chefs: Simon Patent of 22 Lounge, Colin Patterson of Sutra, Nina Vincent of Spur and Ashley Villaluz of nowhere in particular.

My early money is on Nina for best finish for a Seattle chef, just because she worked in the cutting edge kitchen at Spur. I have been to Sutra, it was a decent meal, but I wasn’t floored by the vegetarian fare there quite the way I was at Carmelita. I will also admit, I have never heard of 22 Lounge, which is appearantly a Tapas type place/bar located on Capitol Hill.

I am not sure if I can bring myself to watch Top Chef this season with that many chefs in the competition. In case you are wondering, the show starts on November 2nd.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

For some reason tonight as I am washing the dishes after dinner, the San Giorgio spaghetti song pops into my head. I am pretty sure that the commercial only aired in the New York metro area based on the line: “So grab a fork, come on New York; New York loves San Giorgio; a great spaghetti in a great spaghetti town.”

Would you believe, despite the vast resources of the internet, that commercial does not exist anywhere that I could find. How is that possible?

Instead, I will leave you with the other great San Giorgio commercial:

 

By Iron Chef Leftovers

TCM has a new host and a new format! Or so the trailers tell me. Apparently when they reformatted the show, they forgot to cast an actual set of master chefs. Don’t get me wrong, the lineup is impressive, but when I hear the term “master”, I am really thinking of guys like Bayliss, Tsai, Waxman, etc. – old chef who have served their time working in the kitchen and now draw people based on their names, not because they are on the line every night.

Season 3 is a decidedly different demographic – the lineup is loaded with up and comers, winners of “Best New Chef Awards” and a couple of grizzled veterans. Honestly, the lineup looks more like a regular “Top Chef” season than a “Masters” one. There are also only 12 contestants this season, so it is probably going to be a short season.

That being said, I am probably going to watch, so here are my favorites:

George Mendes – he has worked at El Bulli, owns ALDEA in NYC (it is very well received), owns a Michelin Star and is probably the best new chef you have never heard of. He is all over the place with his resume, so he is probably the most well suited to win the competition since he can cover just about any style.

Naomi Pomeroy – the only Northwest chef in the competition, Pomeroy is the chef/owner of Beast in Portland – one of the Iron Chef’s top 5 places he wants to eat in 2011 (but that is for another post). She has a boatload of awards – lots of best of’s, but I honestly don’t see her winning this entire thing. You really have to cheer for the only local chef in the competition.

Alessandro Stratta – probably the best of the “old guys” in the competition. He has worked at some of the best restaurants in Vegas and probably can handle the pressure better than just about anyone in the competition.

My winning pick after the jump.

 

 

 

Continue reading “Top Chef Masters – Season 3” →

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Disclaimer – I wrote this after the first episode of “Top Chef: All-Stars” aired and have not revised any predictions.

I normally hate “All-Star” type shows – it is normally the, “hey, we have run out of good ideas, so let’s bring back some old contestants and put them through their paces again.” In the case of Top Chef, it isn’t a bad thing. For most reality shows, winning is more luck than skill. In Top Chef, it is almost entirely skill, so to have them bring back a group of contestants who generally finished in the top 5 or so of their respective seasons isn’t a bad thing. The real question is, how many of them have their hearts in it this time around? There is some serious cash on the line, so there is huge incentive. Besides, even if you hate the show, how could you not want to tune in every week to hear guest judge Anthony Bourdain be snarky? Makes me want to get a hold of all of the footage they have just to see what comments from Bourdain did not make it.

Spoilers and Predictions after the jump. Continue reading “Top Chef: Season 8 – All Stars” →

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Well, Top Chef, Season 7 is in the books. I will write my observations on who won after the jump so I don’t spoil it for anyone who has not seen it yet.

I will be honest; I skipped the 5 episodes leading to the finals because, frankly, this season just wasn’t that interesting. There was a twist on the final this season which I did like – the chefs had to make a 4 course meal: one vegetable, one fish, one meat and one dessert. There were no restrictions on the vegetable or dessert, but the fish course had to feature Red Mullet and the meat course had to feature duck. The chefs also had to incorporate a couple additional ingredients into their courses somewhere – pork belly, black cockles and cuttlefish. The chefs also had the use of a past winner as sous chef – Hung, Ilan and Michael Voltaggio were available and the chefs drew knives to determine whom they got (more on this below).

Based on the dishes that were produced, it looks like the right person won. Continue reading “Season 7 is in the Books…” →

By Iron Chef Leftovers

The show is 6 or seven episodes in (I have only watched the first 4) and I have somehow managed not to post about Top Chef – Season 7 until now. I will tell you now that there are no spoilers in this post, unless you count my feelings on the show as a spoiler.

First off, I really don’t care who wins this season. I really don’t like any of the contestants (dull personalities, too much conflict, too many “drama queens”) nor do I think the talent level is anywhere close to any of the past 6 seasons. There has not been a single chef in Season 7 that I can say, “Hey, he/she is going to make the finals and win this thing.” Maybe last season ruined it for me when after one episode it became clear that the 3 best chefs were Kevin and the Voltaggio brothers. Heck, even Marcel from season 2, as much of an ass as he was, was obviously very talented and it was easy to recognize. If you are watching Season 7, I would love to know your thoughts, if you aren’t watching, don’t bother.

As for my finals prediction – if I had to pick, I would go with Kenny, Angelo and Amanda although I would not be surprised if all 3 are eliminated in the next few weeks. That is how inconsistent the cooking has been. “Restaurant Wars” should be an interesting episode this season.

by Coltrane

The diet that Alton Brown used to lose 50 pounds in 9 months:

Daily:

Fruits, Whole Grains, Leafy Greens, Nuts, Carrots, and Green Tea.  Eat breakfast every day.

3 times per Week:

Oily Fish, Yogurt, Broccoli, Sweet Potato, Avocado.

1 time per Week:

Red Meat, Pasta, Dessert, Alchohol (one drink).

Never:

Fast Food, Soda, Processed Meats, Canned Soups, “Diet Anything”.

Alton Brown expressed a low opinion of store-bought granola bars during the episode “Live and Let Diet”.  Below is nutrition information for his granola bars, compared to Nature Valley’s Peanut Butter granola bars.

Item	AB’s	Nature Valley
Cal	189	190
Total Fat	6.2g	7g
Sodium	9.4mg	180mg
Total Carbs	29.8g	28g
Fiber	3.84g	2g
Sugar	13.8g	11g
Protein	4.35g	5g

You decide if it’s worth making your own.

Nutrition Information and Recipe Source.  Note that the serving size in the left column was 1/3 the number of calories of the right column.  (63 calories vs 190 calories.)  The math has been adjusted so that it is a direct comparison.

By Iron Chef Leftovers

Right here. I haven’t watched the final episode yet, but I know if was very close. Needless to say, I am now 2 for 2 predicting the winner of Top Chef – Masters. Now if I could only get the winner of the regular Top Chef right instead of having them lose in the finals…

By Iron Chef Leftovers

If you are watching Top Chef Masters and haven’t caught up, look away now.

A few months ago, I made this prediction about the final 4 on Top Chef Masters – My picks for the finals – Rick Tramonto, Marcus Samuelsson, Jon Waxman and Mark Peel. Well, I am 50% on that prediction. Samuelsson and Waxman have made it to the final 4. Peel and Tramonto were big disappointments, but hey, I will take it. I was disappointed to see all 3 Seattle chefs get eliminated in the first round, but I was happy to see Jody Adams last a few rounds. Thierry Rautureau had possibly the best moment at Critic’s Table – when the judges asked about his food, Rautureau said his problem was “a French guy was trying to squeeze a 7 course meal into one dish.” I still think that Samuelsson is going to win, but Susur Lee seems like he might put up a fight.

Overall, I really don’t like this show – the editing is terrible, the critics are annoying and there isn’t the intensity of the competition of the regular Top Chef show, but it is mildly entertaining, so I end up watching it.