Gail Simmons

After being nominated four years in a row, last night, Top Chef finally won the Emmy for Best Reality Series. The sixth season of the show that was filmed in Las Vegas and featured the charismatic Voltaggio brothers was one of my favorite seasons, and I'm happy to see it awarded.

Along with the Magical Elves, the production company behind the series, hostess Padma Lakshmi and judges Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio were on hand to receive their Emmy. The win was unexpected by the cast and crew; Simmons tweeted, "still tongue-tied 4 hours later!" while Lakshmi chimed in, "wow! It still hasn't sunk in. Very thrilling to win along with Al Pacino!" What do you think of the win?

The action in LA moved last night from the stage at the Emmys on to the press room, where the big winners showed off their new gold. Humanitarian honoree George Clooney led the pack by speaking about Brad Pitt's equally good deeds, and Tom Hanks toasted his HBO miniseries The Pacific. Aaron Paul and Bryan Cranston, meanwhile, had dual wins for Breaking Bad. An excited Aaron gushed about the surprise, saying he lost his mind due to the shock. Nurse Jackie's Edie Falco, who was declared Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series, still maintained that she's not even funny. The ensemble cast of Mad Men was led by January Jones, the adorable young actress Kiernan Shipka, Christina Hendricks, and Elisabeth Moss. Their series's creator, Matthew Weiner, said a few words and assured fans their show isn't going anywhere just yet.

Eric Stonestreet celebrated with the Modern Family gang and commented that it won't be weird on set after he picked up a Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy nod over two of his costars. Claire Danes was solo on stage to gush about her win for Temple Grandin. The stars were soon off to make the afterparty rounds, so stay tuned to get the inside scoop from across Hollywood! Also, make sure to check in on the evening's best beauty and fashion looks with Bella and Fab's love it or hate it polls.

To see more from the press room, just read more

• Gail Simmons opens up about her role as hostess of Top Chef: Just Desserts. — Feast
• Tips for making homemade sausage. — Huffington Post Food
• Everything you need to know about Morimoto's new Napa restaurant. — Inside Scoop
• Be like Thomas Keller and make your own cured lemons. — Food Wishes
• How to refuse dessert politely. — Chow
• On a hot night, serve chilled cucumber soup for dinner. — The Epi-Log
• Anthony Bourdain is hosting a food writing contest. — Eater
• Catching up with the Food Network's Adam Gertler. — Serious Eats
• Find out how President Obama prefers his pizza slices. — Grub Street CHI

The final Aspen Food & Wine event is the Classic Quickfire, a timed cooking competition between the most recent Top Chef winner and an acclaimed chef (such as Jacques Pepin). This year, Top Chef champion Michael Voltaggio was up against stiff competition: Top Chef Masters winner Rick Bayless!

Host Sissy Biggers announced the theme was "sexy vegetables." Just like on the show, the two contenders drew knives to determine their main ingredients: Rick drew "surf," which meant whole lobsters, while Michael took "turf," which equated to rack of lamb.

They were also given leftover ingredients from previous cooking demos to work with and one sous chef each (Michael's was the fun and feisty actress Allison Janney). Rick Bayless stunned the judges with a roasted tomatillo salsa-topped lobster and potato course; meanwhile, Michael Voltaggio wowed the crowd with his frozen sangria starter and seared lamb loin and eggplant crostini with tomato seed "caviar."

See the two chefs in action — and find out the winner of the quickfire! — when you read on.

Like last year, Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons joined forces to host a seminar at the 28th annual Food & Wine Classic. Since I'm a huge fan of the show and enjoyed their lively banter in the previous demo, I was excited to see what the dynamic duo would cook up. This time, they were inspired by one of the magazine's regular features, Chef Recipes Made Easy.

They chose three ingredients: merguez sausage, garbanzo beans, and harissa, and each made a distinctly different dish. Tom's was the chef's way: an elaborate preparation that involved homemade sausage, stuffed leg of lamb, and fresh garbanzo beans. Gail created something more accessible to the home cook with store-bought sausage and canned garbanzos. As they cooked, they chatted; to see some tips I picked up from Tom and Gail, read more

• Tyler Florence is set to open three Bay Area restaurants. — San Francisco Chronicle
• A buzzkill guide to sustainable seafood. — Huffington Post Food
• How to eat an artichoke. — Chow
• Simple remedies for an upset stomach. — The Epi-Log
• San Franciscans: check out Spruce's sister restaurant in Park City. — Grub Street SF
• Is Gail Simmons the best reality TV show judge? — Feast
• Learn the proper technique for sharpening knives. — Serious Eats
• Has the winner of Top Chef Masters been revealed again? Warning: spoiler alert! — Time Out New York
• Eight ideas for Martha Stewart video games.— Eater

The second season of Top Chef Masters is set to premiere on April 7 and Entertainment Weekly has revealed the lineup of participating chefs. Kelly Choi will continue to host and the judges, James Oseland, Gael Greene, and Jay Reyner, will be joined by Gail Simmons. There's also an exciting new cast of guest judges including Andrew Zimmerman, Hank Azaria, and Mekhi Phifer. To check out the entire list of competing masters — six of the chefs were on the first season — read more

• Gail Simmons's guide to packing. — Travel + Leisure
• An inside look at New York City's illegal beekeepers. — Chow
• Does it really matter if you forget an ingredient? — The Epi-Log
• Catch up with some of Top Chef 6's cheftestants. — Grub Street NY
• 10 new things to put in your drink. — Endless Simmer
• Taste test: vegan burgers. — Serious Eats
• Michael Pollan and Oprah discuss seal blubber and cow's blood. — Eater