Top Chef

12 posts

Cocktail Saturday: Tomato Water Bloody Mary

Bloody-MaryRecently my husband and I have been watching a lot of Top Chef, which has been really fun. Thanks, Hulu! We’d only seen a few episodes on television, because we only had Bravo for a nanosecond in ’07.

However, it did give us an evening of fun a few years ago. We wrote a little “Top Chef” parody called “Cooking For Your Life” where cooking contestants didn’t realize that they’d signed onto a show where the loser would be hunted down by “Parma” and killed at the end of every episode. Continue reading →

Mark of the Beast(ie Boy): Liveblogging Episode 666 of Top Chef Just Desserts

Hey, snickerdoodles. Last week was fun, wasn’t it? The sugar pimps made candy bars, some more successful than others. Then they went to a water park, and all of them pretty much sucked like Dysons when it came to creating frozen treats that would refresh customers on a hot day. Angry Montel made some sort of horrific interpretation of a root beer float that seemed to be nothing at all like a root beer float; his dessert was described as heavy and looked disgusting. Gaygent Smith made some stupid thing that required him to leave his customers waiting for minutes in the nuclear hot sun. This seemed to be a problem for the judges at the time. Later, of course, they faulted whatsherface for making her funnel cakes ahead of time, insisting it would have been better to make people wait. Sure, judges. Johnny Iuzzini talked a bunch about how his mouth was coated in this or how that was stuck in the back of his throat. Johnny, I get it. Call me. In the end, ole whatsherface was sent home. What’s happening this week? Join me after the jump, and I’ll tell you all about it.

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Raging Waters: Liveblogging Top Chef Just Desserts Episode 5


Last week was an extra special episode of Just Desserts, wasn’t it? Team Mad lost one of its angriest. And why? Because last week she wasn’t so angry. She was almost…likable. We can’t have that! You’re outta here, (not so) Angry Melissa! Also, finally — mercifully and rightfully — Beaker was tossed in the trash like a souffle that didn’t rise. See ya, Beaker! Team Gay is no weaker for having lost you. So what does this week have in store for us? Join me after the jump, and I’ll tell you. Continue reading →

Are the Fires of Hell A-Glowing? Liveblogging Top Chef Just Desserts Episode 4

Hello, friends. As you might have guessed, I am still mourning the loss of Nelson Paz. Please join me in a moment of silence as we (I) try to come to grips with this crushing defeat. In the dark days that followed last week’s episode, I did much soul-searching. I had so many questions. How could Nelson–handsome, lovely, tan and taut, thickly accented, talented pastry sex wizard Nelson–be kicked off while Beaker–incompetent, frantic, grating, pasty, novice sugar tinkerer Beaker–remain to compete another week? How could this be? How could the judges boot Nelson when Angry Montel only made an ugly floral arrangement and scattered some rose petals?  Is there no justice in this world? How would I continue to watch Just Desserts without the promise of ogling an imaginary sweetheart each week? Somehow (there may have been vodka and pornography involved), somehow I managed to pick up the pieces, and I am ready to make cruel comments about the remaining pastry gnomes once again. Join me, friends, as we continue to chart the battle of Mads vs. Gays, a battle certain to end in a swirling funnel of blood, glitter, scraps of modeling chocolate and tooth fragments.

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Liveblogging Just Desserts Episode 3: Synergy and A Nightmare on Pink Street

We are no strangers to product placement and synergistic advertising. We watch Project Runway with its embedded advertisements for HP, Marie Claire, L’Oreal and at least a half dozen other brands. We watch Top Chef with its similar product placements for Dawn Hand Renewal with Olay (the Procter and Gamble double whammy!). Tonight, Just Desserts may well collapse under the weight of all the product placement and cross-advertising. Continue reading →

Symphony of Destruction: Top Chef Just Desserts, Episode 2

Last week the pastry gnomes were corralled like cattle into odd couple groupings for their mini challenge and main challenge. They mooed and bleated, but that did nothing to prevent the unstoppable shuffle to the slaughter. This week…they’ll be split into groups for their challenge again. Where last week they had to create showpieces from fairy tales, this week the gnomes will be creating cakes for the 9th Season Orchestra of the Los Angeles Philharmonic: “the chefs must work in teams to create a cake experience in three movements to be served to the symphony members and patrons after their performance.” This should be interesting. Continue reading →

Top Chef Live Blog: Just Desserts Season Premiere

Who are the red hots for this year? Are you on Team Sad or Team Gay? Or must we make room for a new team altogether? It’s time, Crassholes, time to watch a whole new cast of pastry chefs become unhinged at the drop of a spatula. I hope you doubled your insulin tonight, Wilford Brimley, because this bitch is about to get sweeeeeeeeeeeet. Check out the contestant bios on Bravo’s site to make some snap judgments and rate who you think is the cutest (I’ll take a slice of Nelson Paz, thankyewverymuch). Picture of him after the jump. My snap judgment crush may change. Okay, are you ready? I’m ready. Pour yourself a drink–something sweet, natch. Continue reading →

QOTD: Who’s Your Top Chef?

Way to go, jerk. You’ve killed 369 people in a freak blowtorch incident (sure, you say accident, but you also say Crocs are acceptable footwear, which has lost you all credibility), and now you’re on death row. One perk, though–you do get that delightful last meal. Yes, I suppose you could choose it yourself and have your mom’s fried chicken or this fantastic truffle with truffle sauce, drizzled with truffle oil, that you once had at Eau de Truffle, but in Crasstalk Maximum Security Prison, the rules dictate that you have to rely on the wisdom, taste, and skill of your favorite chef–whose food you may or may not have actually tasted–to make the menu for you.

And so, for today’s Question of the Day: Which chef, celebrity or otherwise, would you entrust with your last meal? Continue reading →

Behind the Scenes of Top Chef: Just Desserts with Chef Erika Davis

This March, Top Chef: Just Desserts‘ Erika Davis led a dessert demonstration for those interested in making the perfect mousse. Today, Erika is the Executive Pastry Chef at the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club and the Ambassador for Callebaut Chocolate. In addition to teaching us how to make a trio of chocolate desserts, she was kind enough to answer questions from the audience about her background, her experience on the Bravo show, and her advice for Season 2 contestants.

Cookie Dough and Kosher Cooking

Erika has been baking since she was knee-high and began decorating cakes when she was 12. She was, of course, a big fan of the Easy Bake Oven – multiple Easy Bake Ovens. “I would blow that joker up just so I could get a new one every Christmas,” she says. She even sold cookies and cakes to her teachers in elementary school. Her chocolate chip walnut cookie, one of the cookies she used to hock to her teachers, was part of the winning team during the bake sale competition on Top Chef: Just Desserts. (Remember Team Pep Squad vs. Team Glee Club?) You can buy the cookie dough that helped crush the glee club like a chocolatey delicious Sue Sylvester at The Ultimate Cooke Dough Company.

After graduating community college for culinary school, Erika got her professional start at several kosher bakeries and restaurants in the Detroit area. Her tip for making a moist parve (non-dairy) cake? Soak it in simple syrup (water and sugar).

Pre-Heat the Oven: The Top Chef Interview Process

When producers called Erika to ask her to apply to the show, she asked if she was being punked. After recomposing herself, Erika gave them her contact information so they could send her the 28-page application. She also had to send them a video demo of her doing something in the kitchen. Next, she was flown to LA for a two-day lock-in in a hotel where participants were only allowed to leave if a show rep came to get them. They were given psych evaluations (a question I’m sure many people have had after watching some Bravo shows). In fact, they met with 3-4 different therapists. According to Erika, the therapists would say “this is who you are and this is your personality” – and totally nail it. Finally, the potential contestants would meet with a couple producers who would decide who moved on to the show.

The Top Chef Challenge

The contestants stayed in LA for 32 days – whether or not they were eliminated early on. When they arrived, they were put in a hotel room and all recipes and personal items were taken and put in a Ziploc bag. Erika thought, “I’ve just been stripped naked!’ because everything that is personal to you is gone.” As a pastry chef, cooking without recipes would also be a major challenge.

The show took care of the contestants the entire time they were there. Erika notes that the downtown LA loft they were put in was not glamorous like the facilities seen on regular Top Chef. Because it was the first season of Just Desserts, they did not have a major sponsor like Whole Foods since no one knew how the show would turn out. Surprisingly, the cooking show contestants weren’t fed the most delectable of culinary cuisine – Erika soon grew sick of grilled chicken and Caesar salad. The schedule was grueling. It isn’t movie magic – The first quickfire really did take place their first day there. The episode where they were challenged to create a chocolate outfit was a 20-hour day. They started around 10:00 pm, worked into the morning, went to bed around 7:00 am, and woke up for the main event at 11:00 am. Once a contestant was eliminated, he didn’t get to go home; he was put up someplace else for the remaining time and worked on voiceovers.

Simmer Down Now

Unsurprisingly, competing on the reality show came with a certain level of stress.

Says Erika:

There was no break [in the competitions], and they do that to see what you can take on stress and see if you’re worthy. . . You gotta be tough. After a while, it’s like, ‘do I wanna be here?’ You start second guessing yourself. Is it worth it? But it was completely worth it because it just showed how strong you were. And it couldn’t have been harder than us just busting our tail in the kitchen at work, but it was constant without proper sleep. You don’t get to sleep in your own bed, you don’t get to see your family. They take everything away from you that’s your comfort, no bible, no books for reading, no computer, no nothing. All you have is yourself and the people you have in the house.

Her way of dealing with the drama? “I stood back and let everybody clown.”

Advice for Season 2

Bravo recently announced that Season 2 of Top Chef: Just Desserts is being cast now.

Erika’s advice for the next batch of contestants?

Be true to yourself. Believe in yourself with your flavors and your talent, and [say] a nice prayer with your family before you go, and know that you have a support group. For me, I was going against myself; I wasn’t going against Seth or Danielle or Morgan. . . I had my own little war, and if you watch the show, you will see everyone had their own little war, but that’s what made the show, that’s what made each character their own personality. Be yourself and know that you are worthy of being on there or else they wouldn’t have put you on there.

Chocolate Chips Pic