[Televisionary]

It's funny how camaraderie can evaporate the minute someone feels one of their number doesn't deserve to win. On this week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Penn and Teller"), the chefs seemed to offer a unified front, even going so far as to honor the memory of their fallen compere Mattin by donning his trademark red scarves (just how many did he pack?) in the Top Chef kitchen. It was a touching testament to how much of an emotional impact Mattin had on the chefs (even if not in a culinary sense) but that sense of community was quickly shattered by the results of the Quickfire Challenge this week. Now I've long felt that there have been several chefs still in the competition at this point who should have packed their knives a long time ago. Perhaps it's the fact that there seem to be four incredibly talented chefs gunning for the final four (that would be Kevin, Jennifer, and the Voltaggio brothers) but the majority of the other contestants haven't

I'm not exactly a fan of camping. So I can only imagine how I would have fared had I been thrown into the challenge facing the cheftestants on this week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Camping"), where they were tasked with creating a high-end lunch for twenty-four diners under some rather adverse conditions. Namely: outside in the heat over open flames. Some chefs attempted to take the easy route and make ceviche, incorrectly thinking that the acid-cured fish would be just the thing to cool down some cowboys on the ranch after a long morning. Not quite. Others realized that they needed to stick to their own flavor profiles and aesthetics and offer up dishes that could work in white-tablecloth restaurants but that could be tweaked slightly for the ranch. So how did the chefs perform this week? Let's discuss. Former Top Chef Masters contestant Tim Love was on hand this week as guest judge and he presided over a Quickfire Challenge that stymied many of the conte

Classical French culinary training is painstakingly rigorous, but surely all of the chefs among the pack of remaining contestants on Top Chef should have been able to pull off this week's challenge without a hitch, right? Not quite. I've already raved about this week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas (you can read my advance review here ), which featured a veritable who's who among French chefs, including chef of the century Joel Robuchon, Daniel Boulud, Hubert Keller, Laurent Tourondel, and Jean Joho. Not exactly small fry. This week's episode ("Vivre Las Vegas") challenged the cheftestants to work in the classical French style, using traditional ingredients such as escargot, rabbit, and frog legs and deliver dishes to the awe-inspiring master chefs assembled to sample their work. In other words: it was make it or break it time for these chefs. So how did the contestants perform this week? Let's discuss. The High-Stakes Quickfire Challenge this week

Are you obsessed with Top Chef ? Do you know your salpicon from your brunoise ? Not freaked out by preparing velouté or escargot? You're in luck. This season's chefs are as always a motley bunch but there have emerged several major contenders for the title of Top Chef this season and, despite it being only the fourth episode of the season, we're seeing some major culinary skills at play in the Top Chef kitchen in a fashion that's usually reserved for the final rounds. I had the chance last week to watch tonight's outstanding episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Vivre Las Vegas") and I have to say that not only is the best episode of the season so far but it will go down as one of my favorite episodes of the entire series to date. Not only are many of the chefs working at the top of their game, delivering some inspired and inspiring dishes, but the master chefs who the producers have assembled to judge this particular challenge is awe-inspiring. In the past,

The opening episodes of each season of Top Chef are notable for the fact that there are typically a few stand-out contenders right from the start (to wit: Jennifer Carroll, whom I interview here ) and there are some, er, less than likely winners in the bunch. The first few challenges then seem clearly designed to cull some of the chefs who are wilting under the mounting pressure. This week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Thunderbirds") seemed planned to do just that, with several chefs stumbling over some rather large speed bumps: they'd be cooking as a single team for roughly 300 airmen and their families on an Air Force Base. But the kicker was that they didn't know what their ingredients would be in advance, nor the fact that there were not pots or burners in the military kitchen. So who soared like an eagle and who landed with a deafening thud? Let's discuss. There are several chefs who seem destined to bow out of this competition pretty quickly unles

Those of you who have been watching Bravo's addictive and appetite-inducing culinary competition series Top Chef: Las Vegas have undoubtedly discovered the dazzling skill, graceful presentation, and exquisite flavor profiles of 33-year-old Philadelphia native Jennifer Carroll. Carroll, who wowed the judges in the first week of the competition with a clam ceviche and a poached halibut dish, is the chef de cuisine at 10 Arts by Eric Ripert in Philadelphia. When I first saw an early cut of the season opener, I quickly put her down as a major contender for the title of Top Chef and was impressed by her creativity, her passion, and her unwavering determination. I caught up with Carroll earlier this week to talk to her about her career, her culinary style, what it's really like in the kitchen on Top Chef , that pastry chef comment (you know which one I'm talking about), and much more. Televisionary: How would you define your culinary style? Jennifer Carroll: My style is to defin

It's interesting as each season of Top Chef wears on to see just how your initial gut-instinct contenders fare as the challenges begin piling up. I'm happy to say that so far the three chefs that I picked as the three major contenders have all continued to fare well this week. Just which one of them will walk away with the grand prize remains to be seen but there's no doubt in my mind that each of them will be sticking around for some time to come. On this week's episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Bachelor/Ette Party"), it was a battle of the sexes as the chefs were split down the middle and had to pair three shots with individual dishes at a bachelor and bachelorette party. But before that, there was the Todd English-judged Quickfire Challenge where the cheftestants rolled dice to see how many ingredients they'd have to work with--anywhere from two to twelve--and prepare a dish in under thirty minutes. So how did they fare this week in Sin City? Let's

I'm ecstatic that Top Chef is back on the air again. While I've enjoyed Top Chef Masters , I'm more than ready to dig into my main course now. On the season opener of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Sin City Vice"), seventeen chefs headed to sunny Las Vegas, each eager to take down their competition and walk away the winner of the title of Top Chef. But this first course in the ongoing competition was no walk in the park; rather, it tested the contestants in a series of challenges--from mise-en-place relays to cook-offs and extremely focused thematic dishes--that was tested to separate the wheat from the chaff. You had the opportunity to read my advance review of the season premiere , but now that it's aired, we can get specific about just what went down this week on the culinary competition series. So how did the new chefs perform in this first challenge? Let's discuss. As I mentioned in my advance review of the premiere, the chefs this season are a motley bunch

Tonight is more or less a perfect storm of food-oriented television programming for foodies. Just a quick reminder to tune in to tonight's season kick-off of Bravo's brand-defining culinary competition series Top Chef: Las Vegas , which joins the schedule at an earlier-than-usual time of 9 pm ET/PT before relocating to its normal timeslot at 10 pm ET/PT next week. (In the meantime, you can read my advance review of the first episode here .) Plus, the super-sized season premiere of Top Chef leads right into the final showdown on Top Chef Masters at 10:15 pm as finalists Hubert Keller, Michael Chiarello, and Rock Bayless square off in the kitchen to see just which one of them will walk away with title of Top Chef Master. Just which of these master chefs will emerge the ultimate champion? Find out tonight. And if that weren't enough culinary cravings for you, BBC America's own fascinating foodie magazine program F Word is brand new tonight as well, with an episode at 9

Sharpen your knives and prepare for the main course. While there's still one last showdown on Top Chef Masters , tomorrow night brings the season premiere of Top Chef: Las Vegas ("Sin City Vice") as seventeen new contestants square off in the ultimate culinary competition. I had the opportunity a few weeks back to watch the sensational season opener and found myself just as addicted as ever to the tension, imagination, and sheer deliciousness of original flavor Top Chef . So what did I think of the first episode of Top Chef: Las Vegas ? Sharpen your knives and let's discuss. (Though, I promise no spoilers about who wins, who goes home, or who wilts in the heat.) This being the first Las Vegas-set edition of Top Chef , expect lots of twists and turns along the way, most notably some--shall we say--even greater incentives to winning the Quickfire Challenges. Yes, there's a sizable amount of cash on the table with each round and there's also an element of chance

Just a few quick words about my participation yesterday in a special thrilling Top Chef Quickfire Challenge at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour in Pasadena. While you sadly won't get to see the Quickfire on television (aw!), it was an absolute treat to get to have lunch with Padma Lakshmi, Gail Simmons, and my fellow television critic guest judges and then deliberate about which of the two dishes ruled supreme. (And believe me, get a group of foodies and critics together and it's rather tricky to come to unanimous decision.) But I'm getting ahead of myself. The Quickfire Challenge brought together two teams of Top Chef contestants. On the one side: Team Old School, consisting of Fabio Viviani, Antonia Lofaso, and Ryan Scott. Staring them down from the other side of the stage: the newbies from Top Chef: Las Vegas : Ashley Merriman, Michael Isabella, and Mattin Noblia. So how did they do? And which dish did we end up selecting as the winner? Let's dis

Welcome to your Thursday morning television briefing. I'm still recovering from a very late night involving French cuisine, wine and port, a 1 am viewing of last night's episode of Top Chef Masters , and an early rise for the Emmy nominations. Fortunately, just a few headlines to get through this morning.... NBC confirmed that it will end the run of Canadian drama series The Listener on Thursday, July 23rd and replace the series with repeats of Law & Order beginning July 30th. The remaining five unaired episodes of The Listener will be streamed over NBC.com. ( Futon Critic ) Bravo has announced that it has moved the premiere of Top Chef: Las Vegas forward a week. The season premiere will now air August 19th at 9 pm ET/PT followed by the season finale of Top Chef Masters . ( Twitter ) More on the reasons behind Kirk Acevedo's departure from FOX's Fringe , courtesy of Entertainment Weekly 's Michael Ausiello. "Storyline dictated," wrote Ausiello. &qu

Best news of the day: Bravo has announced a launch date for the sixth season of Top Chef , entitled Top Chef: Las Vegas , and it's a hell of a lot earlier than I anticipated. Cabler Bravo announced this morning that it will kick off the sixth season of the culinary competition series on Wednesday, August 26th at 10 pm ET/PT and announced the seventeen-member cast for Top Chef: Las Vegas . Meanwhile, judges Tom Collichio, Gail Simmons, Toby Young, and host Padma Lakshmi are all on board for the Vegas-based edition and we can look forward to such guest judges as Natalie Portman, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, Tyler Florence, Penn & Teller, and Nigella Lawson. (Yes, you read that correctly: NIGELLA LAWSON!!!) UPDATE: The full press release from Bravo, along with official bios for the Top Chef: Las Vegas contestants and video, can be found below. Video: Chef Introductions Get introduced to the chefs that will be competing on this season. Video: The Judges on the Sixth Season The jud