
This week's
Top Chef took another turn towards the catering when the cheftestants had to cook for the folks at the Chicago Policy Academy. In the end we traded in last week's wedding wars for lunchbox wars. We also got a nice dose of against the grain drama.
Glad has announced the results of this
summer's steamiest chef contest. A promotion for their microwave steaming bags, the contest allowed online readers to vote for the best looking Glad chef. Surprise, surprise, the winner is my future husband Sam Talbot.

Some of you were upset with our list of the
hottest guys on Food Network, so to make up for it, I have to tell you all about Glad's new "steamy chef" contest.
To promote their new SimplyCooking Microwave Steaming Bags, the folks at Glad have selected five chefs — they're calling them the "Culinary Fab Five" — who will compete for the title of
America's Steamiest Chef. The chefs don't have to do much, as it's up to you to decide who's "steamiest."

Yesterday, to kick off New York's Restaurant Week, Bravo TV hosted a cook-off pitting season 2 crowd-favorite Sam Talbot against season 2 winner Ilan Hall. I was really hoping that Sam would show everyone that the wrong winner was chosen, but as it turns out,
Ilan won the cook-off with a softshell crab dish. His winning dish, which beat out a quail entrée from Sam, will be tentatively added to some of the top restaurants' menu during restaurant week.

If you're a
Top Chef fan who lives in New York, you might want to head over to NYC's Union Square Park next Tuesday. To kick off the 16th Annual Restaurant week, Bravo TV is hosting a
Taste of Top Chef Cook-Off pitting season two winner Ilan Hall against season two fan favorite, Sam Talbot. Man I wish I lived in New York.
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.

Okay, now what's wrong with this picture from the
South Beach Wine and Food Festival party? Go on take a good look.
Here we have Top Chef winner Ilan Hall, Gail Simmons, Sam Talbot and Tom Colicchio hanging out at the Food & Wine magazine after party.