Source: Flickr User thebittenword.com
If you're wondering what Top Chef Season 1 winner Harold Dieterle has been up to these days, then you'll be thrilled to read this interview with him. I loved hearing about his favorite food destination! – Gridskipper
Before you can be famous, you need to be almost famous. The folks at S.Pellegrino understand this concept and are giving more than 60 culinary students the opportunity to claim their fame. In the 6th Annual S.Pellegrino Almost Famous Competition, students work their way to the finals by competing in regional contests. More than 30 top culinary schools in the US and Canada are participating and students will be given the opportunity to go head-to-head against each other in front of a panel of judges.
Once they've excelled in their region, they are able to proceed to the final event at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in Napa Valley. The event takes place March 7–10 and consists of three categories: Harvest Mystery Basket, Signature Dish, and People's Choice. This year the event will be hosted by Top Chef season-one-winner Harold Dieterle and Sopranos star Lorraine Bracco.
When asked about the competition Harold said:
"The restaurant industry has all the qualities of a real-life competition. Almost Famous sets up these young
chefs to feel comfortable and thrive in these high-pressure situations, which is why so many of the students leave the competition and go on to work for some of the best restaurants in the country."
This indeed may be true. Last year's winner, Ranbir Batra, was able to experience work opportunities he never would have had otherwise, including working alongside Sara Moulton. In addition to new culinary adventures, the overall winner will receive a $10,000 cash prize.
I must say, I was pretty disappointed that last night's Top Chef was a reunion episode - especially because I had just gotten a good grasp of the S3 contestants names. However, having said that it was sort of fun to see the chefs return. I'll admit, I really liked those S1 folks and was wondering why only Dave, Leann and Harold were there. In addition to those three, four contestants from S2 showed - Cliff, Sam, Ilan and Mikey (Marcel was apparently on a fishing trip) - and five from S3 - Lia, Sandy, Micah, Camille and Clay.
I understand how a show like this is a lot of fun for hardcore viewers, however it sort of knocks the drama out of the competition. I wanna see cooking, I wanna see fire, I wanna see drama! I don't want to see people rolling their eyes, plugs for other Bravo shows (I love Tim Gunn, but really? A question from acclaimed chef Jean Georges I can understand, but from Gunn or the gal from Workout, how is that relevant??), weird montages of Padma's fashion or how chef Tom is adored in the bear community.
Did you watch? What did you think? There were some pretty weird moments on there - my personal favorite came from Micah the "African American" (did you see Cliff's face?!). I just don't understand how anyone thinks they can go on to a reality show and omit/alter/lie about their past. Haven't they ever heard of the internet?!
In related news, did you know that Anthony Bourdain is filling in on Tom Colicchio's blog?
There's a bunch of Top Chef related news going on right now - timed to go with the new season I'm sure - so I thought I'd just save some time and post them all at once, here we go!
Source: They Cook. We Dish.
Image Source
Yesterday I mentioned how Food & Wine magazine announced their Best New Chefs of 2007, well turns out that when you announce this kind of a list, you throw a big party to celebrate it too. Last night in Manhattan at 7 World Trade Center, past Best New Chefs, along with Top Chef winners Harold Dieterle and Ilan Hall (and I'm guessing Sam Talbot too, based on the fact that he looks like he's ready for the kitchen in this photo), prepared dishes for the new winners. The 2007 Best New Chefs will be featured in the July issue of Food & Wine.
To check out more pictures of the new best chefs, your favorite former Top Chef contestants (including Miguel, Dave "I'm not Your Bitch Bitch" and Andrea), the party atmosphere and the Food & Wine Staff (yep, Gail is there too), read more
