Sorry for my delay in posting this, but blogger.com was more like clogger.com last night, after the many hits the "Blogging Project Runway" site probably received after last night's season finale.
Last night was the premiere of "Top Chef" Season 2, complete with fifteen new contestants and a new host, Padma Lakshmi. Every single one of this season's contestants are actually employed as cooks or chefs, and all but four received formal culinary education. It looks like an interesting crop of individuals, with varying degrees of experience and, more importantly, personality. I'm looking forward to another fun season.
Some might recognize Padma Lakshmi her many appearances on Food Network. She's also a cookbook author, actress, and television host. Returning to the judges table are Tom Colicchio, chef/owner of Craft restaurants, and Gail Simmons, manager of "special projects" at Food & Wine magazine. Season 1 champion, Harold Dieterle returned as a guest judge. He doesn't seem to have changed much from last season--still cute and low key. He did offer up some decent feedback (e.g., useless garnish = BAD), having been on the other side of the judge's table himself. Following the direction she gave to Season 1's eliminated contestants, the robotic former host, Katie-Lee Joel, has apparently packed her own knives and gone.
The premiere episode began with the show's signature "Quickfire Challenge," in which the contestants are charged with creating a themed dish within a twenty-minute time constraint. The winner of the Quickfire receives immunity from the "Elimination Challenge" later in the show. Last night's challenge required the contestants to create a flambee dish, using any ingredient in the pantry. The winner of this challenge was Sam, who has the distinction of being the youngest-ever Executive Chef in New York, with his Flambeed Shrimp.
The Elimination Challenge involved a"mystery basket" of ingredients that the contestants had to craft into a tasting menu that would be judged by their peers. They divided into two groups, each with its own mystery ingredients, and in two hours, turned them into dishes to be judged by the opposite group. Then, the top two and bottom two from each group would face the main judges at the dining table.
The first group's ingredients included escargot, American cheese, artichokes, limes, and peanuts. Each of the chefs then headed off individually to create their submissions. At the top were Ilan's Escargot with Cheese Sauce and Elia's Escargot and Artichoke with Butter Sauce; at the bottom were Carlos's Artichoke Potato Pancake w/ Escargot and Suyai's Braised Artichoke & Potato with Escargot.
The second group's ingredients included frog legs, chicken livers, peanut butter, eggplant, and corn flakes. At the top of this group were Mia's Chicken-Fried Froglegs and Betty's Froglegs with Chicken Liver Cake; at the bottom were Marcel's Frogleg Lollipop and Otto's Froglegs & Chicken with Peanut Sauce.
Ilan, a 24-year-old line cook from New York City, was the winner (for his winning recipe, visit www.bravotv.com). Oxford, England-born Suyai, unfortunately, was asked to pack her knives and go.
I'll do my best to provide weekly updates on the results of each episode. I'll also add my own thoughts on each of the contestants as the competition goes on. There wasn't much chance to see their personalities come out just yet, but I'm sure there will be much to see soon enough.
For more information, including contestant bios, recipes, and judges' blogs, visit www.bravotv.com
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