Official Top Chef Las Vegas thread *Premieres 8/19*

[Bren's Mom]

Does anyone know what happened to the woman who won season before last? I can't even remember her name. She wasn't in the reunion dinner show they did I don't think.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Stephanie, and no.

Okay, I just checked wikipedia (faster, if less accurate, than BravoTV.com)

Stephanie Izard; sold Scylla (restaurant she owned around the time of Top Chef) and is opening one called The Drunken Goat early next year.

 

[Shelton123]

I think that there is plenty of personality, we just don't get to see it. This show is edited to portray each Chef in a way that will entice viewers to continue to watch each week.

Yeah, but editing them to have no personality doesn't entice me to watch them. That, and producers usually want to give everyone as much personality as they possibly can, because personality = drama. So if someone is shown a lot throughout the show, and they seem like they have no personality, they probably don't have that much.

Re: Stephanie, I'm glad she's moving her career forward and closing the old restaurant! The Drunken Goat is a great restaurant name. If I'm ever where it opens, I must go there. She was my favorite of that season from the first time she ever talked on the show.

Spike's restaurant in DC is VERY good. It has really creative burgers (like Sunny Side Up, my personal favorite, with bacon, egg, and cheese), I love the marshmallow milkshakes (but all of the desserts are great), and the village fries with rosemary are great. But don't get them if you don't like rosemary, it's loaded with it. Oh, and it's obviously not for people on a strict diet, or a strict budget

 

[Imzadi]

Spike's restaurant in DC is VERY good. It has really creative burgers (like Sunny Side Up, my personal favorite, with bacon, egg, and cheese), I love the marshmallow milkshakes (but all of the desserts are great), and the village fries with rosemary are great. But don't get them if you don't like rosemary, it's loaded with it. Oh, and it's obviously not for people on a strict diet, or a strict budget

Oooo! All of those sound yummy!

 

[robinb]

Stephanie Izard; sold Scylla (restaurant she owned around the time of Top Chef) and is opening one called The Drunken Goat early next year.

I was at a fundraiser this year for a local college where Stephanie was the guest chef. The food was good (although not enough of it) and Stephanie spoke briefly but then chose to hang out with the kitchen staff instead of meeting the guests that paid for her food.

 

[snykymom]

OK, finally watched the finale (I'd TIVO'd it). And I'm confused. Michael serves undercooked shrimp for his first course, and overcooked cake for his desserr, and he still wins?? Doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Oh, and the basket of ingredients for the second dish? Way to rip off Chopped on Food Network, guys!

 

[happygirl]

OK, finally watched the finale (I'd TIVO'd it). And I'm confused. Michael serves undercooked shrimp for his first course, and overcooked cake for his desserr, and he still wins?? Doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Oh, and the basket of ingredients for the second dish? Way to rip off Chopped on Food Network, guys!

LOL, The show was sure edited to make Michael look the like the underdog of the three

 

[shortbun]

I didn't want him to win but I've felt for a long time that Michael would win. They always used words like 'risk taker' and 'inventive" with his food-never 'safe.' I was glad Brian went to the end with him although I thought Brian should have placed 3rd. From a personality point of view-I was a Brian fan.

 

[Imzadi]

OK, finally watched the finale (I'd TIVO'd it). And I'm confused. Michael serves undercooked shrimp for his first course, and overcooked cake for his desserr, and he still wins?? Doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Michael's last THREE challenges has components that were way undercooked or done wrong technique-wise.

If Brian hadn't made two of his dishes so bland, he might have won instead.

I still acertain, they weren't ever going to give the win to Kevin or Jennifer. This was designed to be a "sibling challenge."

I talked to a casting director here in NYC. She said, "Oh yes, it is totally possible the producers could have planned it that way and told the casting director to discreetly look for siblings or spouses. That is a good casting director's job: to find the perfect talent for the show/role. That's what the best casting directors get paid the big bucks for."

She said she sometimes gets casting assignments in which she has to find the perfect real firefighters, doctors or married couples. Not actors who play those roles. She often has to find the perfect set of twins or triplets, like in the Double Mint Gum commercials. The most famous twins used in a TV show were the Olsen Twins.

She said it probably wouldn't be hard to find a couple of siblings who are 3-4 star chef caliber. LOTS of family members go into the same businesses or careers. And if approached correctly, would be interested in a friendly competiton for a TV show, thereby giving them lots of exposure for their careers. Once they've signed the non-disclosure agreements, the public would be none the wiser that they were the ones approached, and not the other way around, where they just "happened" to enter on their own.

LOL, The show was sure edited to make Michael look the like the underdog of the three

As someone else mentioned, the chefs might have been asked certain questions hoping to get certain answers out of them, for more footage, but if people aren't natural snakes, one won't get snakey answers out of them, no matter how hard one probe & tries.

 

[barkley]

i visited with my friend who works for the wine train and asked her what the deal was with filming.

she said they were told ahead of time that 'some kind' of filming was going to be happening but no details. they figured it must be pretty high profile because all the muckie mucks showed up and were done up to the 9's. all the muckity mucks and the higher ups apparantly went along for the ride that the chefs cooked during but they never spoke a word about what transpired and in fact the staff did'nt even learn what the filming had been for until the show ran the promos-then they were like 'oh, that's who those nervous looking people were that they were filming outside'

 

[Imzadi]

i visited with my friend who works for the wine train and asked her what the deal was with filming.

she said they were told ahead of time that 'some kind' of filming was going to be happening but no details. they figured it must be pretty high profile because all the muckie mucks showed up and were done up to the 9's. all the muckity mucks and the higher ups apparantly went along for the ride that the chefs cooked during but they never spoke a word about what transpired and in fact the staff did'nt even learn what the filming had been for until the show ran the promos-then they were like 'oh, that's who those nervous looking people were that they were filming outside'

For the uber-celebrity catering company my cousin works for, and that I used to work with, I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement once. The company goes into private homes of multi-billionaires & celebs (like Trump,) and caters weddings and private celebrity events. They don't want stuff later written about what happens at these events and sold to tabloids. They go out of their way to make sure their family & guests to feel they can relax and do whatever they want at their events.

The non-disclosure agreement, I'm sure was written by such high paid lawyers, then triple checked by other lawyers to be totally iron-clad. If I decided to sell anything to a tabloid, or even leaked info to someone else, that was traced back to me as the source, I agreed that I could be sued for a few million dollars or twenty times the price I got from selling the juicy tidbit - whichever was more. Moreover, if I tried to countersue or take them to court for any reason, it was obvious that I would be tied up in court for so long, and with none of the money these celebs and billionaires have to keep a court fight going, that in court costs alone, I'd lose my house, my car, any stocks and investments & my children's children's college funds in just trying to fight all of it.

Believe me, it is soooo not worth opening one's mouth. Plus, I wouldn't anyway. I have some integrity. No matter what I saw & know, private parties are private parties.

Tiger Woods should have thought of such non-disclosure agreements before dipping his golf club everywhere.

 

[DMRick]

Awww....

'Top Chef' cheftestant Kevin Gillespie -- who finished third on the competition -- and his wife are splitting.

In an interview with USA Today, the reality TV star admits he's going through some personal turmoil.

"I've had a lot of conflict ... like, in my personal life, my wife and I are going through a divorce. So it's been really challenging," he says.
http://content.usatoday.com/communi...kevin-gillespie-no-65-on-2009s-top-100-list/1



And it was all happening while he was competing for the 'Top Chef' crown.

"And all of this was going on during 'Top Chef,' which kind of puts some context around why, in the final two episodes, I seemed out of it. It was kind of at the lowest point for us, you know?" Gillespie adds.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

That's a bummer, he seems like such a nice guy.

 

[Allison]

If Brian hadn't made two of his dishes so bland, he might have won instead.

That's pretty much what the judges said on the reunion show last night.

 

[happygirl]

That's pretty much what the judges said on the reunion show last night.

I'm not sure if I agree with this or not. To me a lack of seasoning is a personal thing, I myself hate salt and pepper on food. If people want salt and pepper they can put that on themsleves JMHO

Where as Micheal food was cooked wrong shriimp undercooked, the dessert was horrible.

 

[chell]

Poor Kevin. I hope he wins the fan favorite! I can't believe I watched last night's show for nothing.

 

[happygirl]

Did anyone stay up last and see who won fan favorite?

 

[RUDisney]

Chell, you'll be glad to know that Kevin won.

The final two were Kevin and Bryan.

While I didn't stay up, I DVRd it and watched it this morning. I thought that 1/2 hour of SJP would have been enough. She's a good actor when she has a script, when she ad libs, she gets annoying, IMHO.

 

[Poppinsme]

I just finished watching the reunion show.

Was horrified to see again how they treated Robin!
Eli is a nasty, mean, spoiled human being and I would NEVER have him cook me a meal.
If I had been Robin I would have cussed out Eli, Michael V., Michael I., for what they said and then walked out. She showed real class.

And I also think this season had a "Good Old Boys" type of mentality. They were really mean to allot of the women and I don't like that. The only reason I stayed with the show was because Kevin was a class act and I wanted him to win.

Why don't the judges have food served to them without knowing who cooked it? This would only be fair. People always have a preconceived opinion on someone per there ethnicity/gender. Make it fair!!!

Ex. My mother was an artist. In the 1940s she started entering art shows. Mother found she could never win and then realized to change her signature on her artwork. Men only won. So she changed her signature to just her initials. Guess what? She won art shows, allot. It wasn't until the 1970s that she wrote her whole name on her artwork. True story ladies.

 

[LexiC123]

I just finished watching the reunion show.

Was horrified to see again how they treated Robin!
Eli is a nasty, mean, spoiled human being and I would NEVER have him cook me a meal.
If I had been Robin I would have cussed out Eli, Michael V., Michael I., for what they said and then walked out. She showed real class.

And I also think this season had a "Good Old Boys" type of mentality. They were really mean to allot of the women and I don't like that. The only reason I stayed with the show was because Kevin was a class act and I wanted him to win.

Why don't the judges have food served to them without knowing who cooked it? This would only be fair. People always have a preconceived opinion on someone per there ethnicity/gender. Make it fair!!!

Ex. My mother was an artist. In the 1940s she started entering art shows. Mother found she could never win and then realized to change her signature on her artwork. Men only won. So she changed her signature to just her initials. Guess what? She won art shows, allot. It wasn't until the 1970s that she wrote her whole name on her artwork. True story ladies.

I was also peeved by Eli's behavior on the reunion show. I don't think he would have apologized to Robin if Michael hadn't done so first. I don't care how 'smart' he supposedly is, he acted like a petulant child.

Correction...a petulant child living in his parent's basement.