Articles for Top Chef

After "Top Chef," Gabe Erales finds purpose in supporting marginalized Mexican youth
1 week ago

After "Top Chef," Gabe Erales finds purpose in supporting marginalized Mexican youth

Salon  

Chef Gabe Erales had quite the formidable run on the Portland-set, 18th season of " Top Chef," which he eventually won, besting runner-up chefs Dawn Burrell and Shota Nakajima. Since "Top Chef," Erales has opened two restaurants, but his proudest accomplishment might be his newest venture: his role as executive director of Oido Culinary Academy. Since winning "Top Chef," I …

Food Cooking Culinary Mexico Cia Working Mexican
"Restaurants are magic": Chef Karen Akunowicz on "Top Chef," food waste and what keeps her cooking
1 week ago

"Restaurants are magic": Chef Karen Akunowicz on "Top Chef," food waste and what keeps her cooking

Salon  

Chef Karen Akunowicz is a prominent figure in the Boston dining scene. I want to say I preferred competing in "All Stars," but the beauty of your first time on "Top Chef" is you don't know. I think I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes because I was like, "This must be fresher," but it was winter — I …

Food Cooking Oil Food Waste Restaurants French Think
From diner waitress to James Beard Winner: How Karen Akunowicz became Boston's "queen of pasta"
3 weeks ago

From diner waitress to James Beard Winner: How Karen Akunowicz became Boston's "queen of pasta"

Salon  

Over the past decade, Karen Akunowicz has emerged as one of Boston’s most celebrated chefs, carving out a niche as both a culinary innovator and a force of personality. From winning a James Beard Award to becoming a fan favorite on “Top Chef “— twice — Akunowicz has built an impressive career centered on her love for handmade pasta and …

Love Italy New Jersey Pasta New England James Think
"Top Chef" alum Shota Nakajima wants you to swap your salt for soy sauce
3 weeks, 4 days ago

"Top Chef" alum Shota Nakajima wants you to swap your salt for soy sauce

Salon  

James Beard "Rising Star Chef of the Year" semifinalist and "Top Chef: Portland" finalist — and fan-favorite — Chef Shota Nakajima was a breath of fresh air on the show, adding a punch of levity and brightness on a season that sometimes felt a bit heavy with the stress and pressure of the competition. Nakajima recently spoke with Salon about …

Food Love Cooking Japan Salt Seattle Working
"Top Chef" alum Nini Nguyen's new cookbook is an "extra-special" love letter to Vietnamese food
2 months, 2 weeks ago

"Top Chef" alum Nini Nguyen's new cookbook is an "extra-special" love letter to Vietnamese food

Salon  

"Top Chef" remains a fan favorite for a host of reasons: top-notch hosting, meticulous judging, abundant expertise, and food that both looks and sounds delicious. As noted by her "Top Chef" bio on the Bravo website, Nguyen "started as a pastry cook at restaurants like Coquette and Eleven Madison Park" before working with Dinner Lab and Cook Space, where she …

Food Love Cooking Book Vietnamese Nguyen Cookbook
"Recipes function like arguments:" How philosophy informs Chef Jeremy Chan's Michelin-starred menu
2 months, 2 weeks ago

"Recipes function like arguments:" How philosophy informs Chef Jeremy Chan's Michelin-starred menu

Salon  

In May 2023, while reviewing an episode of “ Top Chef: World All Stars,” I was introduced to a chef I hadn’t encountered before: guest judge Jeremy Chan. In the review, I wrote: "Chef Jeremy Chan is a highlight of this episode; his measured demeanor, calming voice, and knowledgeable approach are unique and refreshing." As explained on the Ikoyi website, …

Food Cooking Philosophy Recipes Restaurant Michelin Great
The Traitors shock win sparks mass walk-out from rival show at the 2024 Emmy Awards
3 months, 3 weeks ago

The Traitors shock win sparks mass walk-out from rival show at the 2024 Emmy Awards

Daily Mail  

This video is no longer available This video is no longer available The Traitors' victory at the Sunday at the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles compelled the cast of a competing reality series to walk out of the Peacock Theater. The Peacock series was named Outstanding Reality Competition Program, besting other nominated shows including The Amazing Race, RuPaul's …

Comedy Awards Actress Reality Race Movie Los Angeles
Body of ‘Top Chef’ alum Naomi Pomeroy recovered from Oregon river after tubing accident
5 months, 3 weeks ago

Body of ‘Top Chef’ alum Naomi Pomeroy recovered from Oregon river after tubing accident

LA Times  

The body of celebrity chef and “Top Chef” alum Naomi Pomeroy has been recovered from a river in western Oregon, authorities confirmed Wednesday. The Benton County Sheriff’s Office said Pomeroy’s body was located Wednesday morning in the Willamette River about half a mile upstream of Hyak Park between Corvallis and Albany, Ore. People canoeing on the river spotted a body …

Water Body River Naomi Chef Sheriff Top Chef
"I don't like to play it safe": What professional golf taught Soo Ahn about competing on "Top Chef"
6 months ago

"I don't like to play it safe": What professional golf taught Soo Ahn about competing on "Top Chef"

Salon  

One unique aspect of the recently concluded season of "Top Chef" was the way Chef Soo Kyo Ahn — a Korean-American chef based in Chicago, currently leading the kitchen team at Adalina — entered the kitchen. For the first time ever, a cheftestant would join "Last Chance Kitchen," a challenge normally reserved from competitors eliminated from the main competition, to …

Golf Competition Ingredients Think Chef Kitchen Favorite
Laura Ozyilmaz on food waste, how "Top Chef" was affirming and her culinary-focused honeymoon
6 months ago

Laura Ozyilmaz on food waste, how "Top Chef" was affirming and her culinary-focused honeymoon

Salon  

At points during this season of "Top Chef," it seemed as though Laura Ozyilmaz was unfairly being pigeonholed as something approximating a "villain," something the show has largely gone without for many seasons now. Salon Food had the opportunity to speak with Ozyilmaz about her experiences, what led her to "Top Chef," her marvelous and beautiful restaurant Dalida, and why …

Food Cooking Competition Restaurant Wisconsin San Francisco Mexico
"Top Chef" finalist Savannah Miller talks eggs, North Carolina and why taking risks is "addictive"
6 months, 1 week ago

"Top Chef" finalist Savannah Miller talks eggs, North Carolina and why taking risks is "addictive"

Salon  

I'm a sucker for competitive reality TV and have been for over twenty years. Over the course of the next four episodes, Miller would win at least one challenge per episode; in episode 12, Miller netted a "Top Chef" record, becoming one of the few over the course of the series to win both a QuickFire and an elimination challenge …

North Carolina Wisconsin Ingredients Think Miller Felt Chef
Newest "Top Chef" winner Danny Garcia talks seafood, top ingredients and how he'll honor his mentor
6 months, 1 week ago

Newest "Top Chef" winner Danny Garcia talks seafood, top ingredients and how he'll honor his mentor

Salon  

Brooklyn resident by-way-of-New-Jersey Chef Danny Garcia has had a whirlwind career. In addition to all of that, of course, he's the newly crowned, reigning champ of "Top Chef" as the winner of season 21, which was set in Wisconsin. Danny won seven challenges across the show before clinching the grand prize, which includes a magazine feature in "Food & Wine," …

Food Work Wisconsin Lot Danny Dish Chef
O Canada! "Top Chef" sets its sights northward for season 22, set to air next year
6 months, 2 weeks ago

O Canada! "Top Chef" sets its sights northward for season 22, set to air next year

Salon  

"Top Chef" is going international again, this time heading further north than they have before, to the land of poutine, a bevy of maple syrup, the foods of the First Nations and indigenous Canadians — and "Degrassi," of course. On both Twitter/X and Instagram, "Top Chef" shared a fun clip of host Kristen Kish and judges and producers Tom Colicchio …

Canada Chef Top Chef
"Top Chef" finale does a disservice to its incredibly talented and deserving winner
6 months, 3 weeks ago

"Top Chef" finale does a disservice to its incredibly talented and deserving winner

Salon  

First off, of course: Spoilers abound, truly. What a peculiar ending to one of my favorite "Top Chef" seasons in a while ; I'd argue that the way the judges' feedback was shown and edited in this finale felt like it was building to a Dan win, while the season editing at large seemed to favor Danny initially, and then …

Food Judges Winner Season Win Twitter Course
On "Top Chef," a frontrunner emerges as the numbers dwindle
6 months, 4 weeks ago

On "Top Chef," a frontrunner emerges as the numbers dwindle

Salon  

Well, as a Savannah fan, it certainly goes without saying that I’m a happy camper after that episode! Featuring a "show us your growth" elimination challenge and a tried-and-true "Top Chef" classic with a blindfolded taste test component in the Quick Fire, this episode fired on all cylinders. I actually didn't think that the Quick Fire even had to be …

Wisconsin Win Laura Quick Tom Dan This Episode
"Top Chef" frontrunner Dan Jacobs on cooking with Kennedy's disease — both on and off the show
7 months ago

"Top Chef" frontrunner Dan Jacobs on cooking with Kennedy's disease — both on and off the show

Salon  

On "Top Chef: Wisconsin," Dan Jacobs has unquestionably been one of the top competitors. He's the hometown guy, he's a James Beard nominee, he's won multiple challenges with some terrific-sounding food and he's been upfront about the challenges and difficulties of Kennedy's Disease, both in general as well specifically as someone working in a frenzied, highly physical kitchen environment, both …

Food Love Disease Restaurant Wisconsin Chicago Kennedy
"Top Chef" delivers a creative and visual tour de force with tabletop dishes: 7 takeaways
7 months ago

"Top Chef" delivers a creative and visual tour de force with tabletop dishes: 7 takeaways

Salon  

I loved this episode of "Top Chef," from the Quick Fire to the elimination challenge and everything in between. I did notice that Dan and Danny didn't seem especially thrilled to see Laura, which was interesting — both have "history" with her, sure, but that struck me as a little odd, especially from Danny. Laura's dish, highlighting the "chewy" Turkish …

Table Season Think Laura Michelle Dan Danny
"Top Chef" sputters with a ill-conceived challenge — but the LCK victory is a worthy contender
7 months, 1 week ago

"Top Chef" sputters with a ill-conceived challenge — but the LCK victory is a worthy contender

Salon  

Spoilers abound, so shield your eyes if you didn't see last week's episode of "Top Chef" just yet! 02 I loved Dan's comment which sort of summed up my whole opinion on the challenge: "You don't boil fish, you poach fish." 05 I'll also say that I think a final six of Savannah, Laura, Michelle, Dan, Danny and Manny is …

Season Think Laura Episode Michelle Tom Dan
"Top Chef" contestants had to put their spin on a classic Door County fish boil — but what is it?
7 months, 2 weeks ago

"Top Chef" contestants had to put their spin on a classic Door County fish boil — but what is it?

Salon  

While I wasn’t especially fond of this week’s “Top Chef” because of an unfortunate boot, some lackluster food, some odd alumni decisions, and my favorite cheftstant having to jet to urgent care for a deep cut, the episode did indeed elucidate two fascinating Wisconsin food customs that were, up until this week, entirely foreign to me: fish boils and meat …

Food Wisconsin County Custom Door Torch Gilmore
"Top Chef" goes "back to the good land," celebrating Native and indigenous ingredients
7 months, 3 weeks ago

"Top Chef" goes "back to the good land," celebrating Native and indigenous ingredients

Salon  

In the ninth episode of this Wisconsin-set season of " Top Chef," aptly titled "The Good Land," host Kristen Kish tasked the cheftestants with a challenging prompt. Sherman, a multiple James Beard-winning chef, told NPR that one of his goals is to "to see the world differently through this Indigenous perspective of realizing that all these plants around us have …

Food Land Indigenous Wild Sherman Terry Chef
"Top Chef's" latest "Restaurant Wars" doesn't reach the highs of previous seasons
7 months, 3 weeks ago

"Top Chef's" latest "Restaurant Wars" doesn't reach the highs of previous seasons

Salon  

In most seasons of "Top Chef", "Restaurant Wars" is one of the biggest conversation starters of the season, often sparking healthy discourse, discussion, debate — and in some cases — outrage, like when current host Kristen Kish was booted in season 10. Dan's winning smoked fish dish, another of Manny's mgnificent moles, Savannah's chawanmushi, Danny's carrot-centric chowder, Amanda's "brilliant" vegan …

Restaurant Wars Season Laura Michelle Tom Dan
Can you actually steal a recipe? The answer is legally (and ethically) complicated
7 months, 4 weeks ago

Can you actually steal a recipe? The answer is legally (and ethically) complicated

Salon  

Secret recipes have always held a certain allure in American culture. Their existence has helped mythologize companies, from Coca-Cola — which kept its secret formula in a vault at the Trust Company Bank in Atlanta for 86 years before eventually moving it to the the World of Coca‑Cola in 2011 — to KFC’s “11 herbs and spices,” a marketing concept …

Recipe Garcia Sam Secret Wrote Dish Chef
"Top Chef" makes the case for cabbage
8 months, 2 weeks ago

"Top Chef" makes the case for cabbage

Salon  

This was far and away the best episode of the current season of “Top Chef” by far. Danny’s winning dish, scallop chou farci-stuffed boiled cabbage with yuzu kosho foam, elicited some of the highest praise I’ve heard from Tom Collichio in 21 seasons of “Top Chef.” I also loved how Tom described the dish: “chaos under water,” comparing the initially …

Danny Salon Chef Top Chef Cabbage Dish
"I want to be the funniest person in the room": After "Top Chef," Padma Lakshmi eyes stand-up comedy
8 months, 2 weeks ago

"I want to be the funniest person in the room": After "Top Chef," Padma Lakshmi eyes stand-up comedy

Salon  

In her new life after “Top Chef,” the series’ longtime former host Padma Lakshmi is attempting to cross over into a creative endeavor separate from fine dining and hosting — stand-up comedy. As Lakshmi told The New Yorker’s Helen Rosner in a new, wide-reaching profile, she anticipated that she would transition from “Top Chef” to the third season of her …

Lakshmi Top Chef