Top Chef (TV Show)

$200,000 of BP Oil Spill Recovery Funds Will Pay for Top Chef to Come to New Orleans

Remember when BP dumped a crapload of oil into the Gulf? Well in a giant statement of "sorry 'bout it," they created a sizeable fund to help boost tourism in the state of Louisiana over 18 months. And if you're curious where all that money went at least part of the answer is to Bravo's hit TV show T ... More >>

Searsucker Scottsdale's Steven "Chops" Smith Headed to James Beard Awards: Here's What's on the Menu

Following in the contrail of Crudo chef Cullen Campbell, another Phoenix chef is headed to New York City for some James Beard culinary fun: Steven "Chops" Smith of Searsucker Scottsdale. See also: - Kevin Binkley, Searsucker, and Short Leash Hot Dogs Among Winners of the 2013 Foodist Awards - The 2 ... More >>

Chefs, What Would It Take to Sell Yourselves to a Major Corporation?

Welcome to Chow Bella's Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you'd like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com.Since James Beard likened himself to a "gastronomic whore" after signing an ... More >>

Searsucker Scottsdale: Nightclub Meets Restaurant at Top Chef Brian Malarkey's New Hot Spot

When a new spot opens in town, we can't wait to check it out -- and let you know our initial impressions, share a few photos, and dish about some menu items. First Taste, as the name implies, is not a full-blown review, but instead a peek inside restaurants that have just opened, sampling a few item ... More >>

Epic Chef: A Cooking Competition Meets a Drinking Game

The first episode of Epic Chef, the brain child of extreme cooking show Epic Meal Time, hit the internet last week. If you're already familiar with the work of Epic Meal Time and the Sauce Boss, then nothing here should be surprising besides the amount of verbal abuse the team seems ready to dole ou ... More >>

Famous Chefs Stand With Teenager Over Calls for Gender Neutral Easy-Bake Oven

Manuel Trevino from "Top Chef" is just one of the many chefs who stepped forward in this video address to show their support for one teenager's petition to get Hasbro to market their Easy-Bake Oven in a gender neutral manner. See Also: --Powdered Food DIY Kits From Japan Are Kinda Creepy but Also ... More >>

Top Chef Brian Malarkey Promoting New Cookbook at Searsucker Tomorrow

Since he was a finalist on Bravo's Top Chef Miami in 2009, Brian Malarkey has gone on to host TLC's Mega Bites, made appearances on The Today Show, and opened five restaurants in San Diego (Searsucker, Burlap, Gingham, Gabardine, and Herringbone) as executive chef and partner. See also: - Searsucke ... More >>

Beau MacMillan Stars in New Game Show "Beat the Chefs," Premiering Thursday, August 23rd

See also: Beau MacMillan To Appear On Premiere of Food Network's The Best Thing I Ever Made Beau Mac -- executive chef of Elements at Sanctuary Resort -- is our local celeb-chef and certifiably famous TV star, the high-energy, fast-talking BoSox buff who's truly in his element on the small screen. ... More >>

Top Chef Brian Malarkey to Open Restaurant in Scottsdale

Since he was a finalist on Bravo's Top Chef Miami in 2009, Brian Malarkey has gone on to host TLC's Mega Bites, made appearances on The Today Show, and opened five restaurants in San Diego (Searsucker, Burlap, Gingham, Gabardine, and Herringbone) as executive chef and partner. And now, a second loc ... More >>

What's Your Favorite and Least Favorite Cooking Show?

Welcome to Chow Bella's Bites & Dishes, where Valley chefs and restaurateurs respond to a question New Times food critic Laura Hahnefeld has on her mind. Have a question you'd like to ask? E-mail laura.hahnefeld@newtimes.com. Miss a question? Go here.Whether it's for education, entertainment, or a d ... More >>

"Top Chef: The Tour" Rolled Through Tempe Marketplace. Who Won?

Bravo's Top Chef Tour rolled into Tempe Marketplace Friday for its fifth annual live cooking competition. Tempe was the 10th stop on the 19-city tour where Bravo's "chef'testants" Richard Sweeney (Season 5) and Ryan Scott (Season 4) went head-to-head in an interactive food competition. The free ... More >>

Blades of Glory

Top Chef Mobile Tour Coming to Phoenix on June 8

There's nothing like the searing heat of a Valley summer to watch some of our favorite (and not so favorite) chef-testants from Bravo's popular reality competition show Top Chef fulfill their contractual obligations strut their stuff for the fifth annual Top Chef mobile tour.

Molecular Gastronomy Meets Chicken Wings, Beer Cocktails and Other Super Bowl Pinterest Finds

Okay this is it. We promise not to talk about the Super Bowl for an entire year after this post but we found these four things while looking for extremely important stuff on Pinterest. Like the above video of Top Chef champion Michael Voltaggio makin' his super boneless chicken wings. We couldn't n ... More >>

Beastie Boys' Off-Broadway, and Four Other Weird Rock Musicals

Ad-Rock​It used to be that plays like Hair epitomized the marriage between rock and musical, but recent years have seen the combination pushed to new limits. You probably know Green Day's American Idiot and U2's constantly flailing Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark, but have you heard of Serj Tank ... More >>

Stephanie Izard's Goat Tour: Scottsdale Tickets Still Available

Huge Galdones (http://galdonesphotography.com/)​Hey Phoenix, are you excited that quasi-local majorly-talented national celeb chef Stephanie Izard is coming to town this weekend? We are. We bet her parents are, too -- they live in Scottsdale. Izard's been absolutely rockin' the the foodosphe ... More >>

Stephanie Izard's Goat Tour 2011 Stops in Scottsdale October 15 and 16

​Phoenix (or Scottsdale, rather) is getting some love in Stephanie Izard's "Goat Tour" benefiting Share Our Strength. Izard's taking a trip around the country visiting with some of the chef's she's met over the years to kick it in the kitchen as well as promote her snazzy new book titled The G ... More >>

Top Chef Just Desserts Season 2 Contestant Grew Up in Glendale

Top Chef Just DessertsLina Biancamano (love those shoes!)​HOLLA! HOLLA! Glendale in the house! The second season of Top Chef Just Desserts, the competitive series on Bravo showcasing the best of the best in the world of pastry arts hosted by Gail Simmons (Call me!), announced the cast of its n ... More >>

New Chef Competition Show for Bravo Now Casting: Will Valley Chefs Represent?

Attention Valley chefs: Time to pull out the can of whoop-ass for a potential new TV series.​Payton Curry, step it up. Bernie Kantak, I'm callin' you out. Silvana Salcido Esparza, time to kick some ass. Seems as if the producers of the Emmy award-winning Top Chef are putting together a potent ... More >>

Richard Blais Makes a Milkshake Richard Blais Style: With Liquid Nitrogen & Cap'n Crunch

Atlanta-based chef Richard Blais, winner of this season's Top Chef and concept chef of Flip Burger Boutique in Atlanta and Birmingham, recently stopped by the menu and meal website KitchenDaily to make a milkshake the only way he knows how: with crazy-mad love for liquid nitrogen and Cap'n Crunch. ... More >>

The Chew: Do We Really Need Another Food Show?

​What happens when not one but two soap operas are canceled on the same day? The Earth shakes on its very foundation and giant worms from its core rise to the surface, making slaves of all mankind forever. They are replaced by equally ridiculous (but cheaper to produce) programming. Whee -- TV is ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars Season Finale: Finally, What We All Knew Would Happen Did

​We made it, yo! After what has seemed like an eternity in the Bahamas (BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!), we're finally down to crowning a Top Chef, and Bravo is all business right out of the gate -- straighten that tie, Bravo! Padma and Tom tell the chefs there will not be a Quickfire and tha ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars Season 8, Episode 11 Recap: Deep-Fried Chef's Law

You got this idea from where, now?​Six chefs remaining and Angelo's gone, yo. Can anyone believe this? Not the part about the six chefs but about Angelo. Seriously? Who will represent crazy now? Answer: Angelo, in about 20 minutes. In the meantime, at the Honeycomb Hideout, we see Blais show ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars Season 8, Episode 8 Recap: It's All-Stars, They're Gonna Do What They Want

Shameless flirting, shameful challenge.​Since Teen Wolf Marcel left last week with his facial hair grooming products and "You haven't heard the last of me!" exit line (until Top Chef All Stars: Foam and Rap airs), nine cheftestants are left to duke it out for the title. On last night's epis ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars Season 8, Episode 7 Recap: Restaurant Wars, Restaurant Bores.

"My arm tats rock."​Ugh. It's "Restaurant Wars," yo, the most overhyped episode of the Top Chef season. It's all about seeing which team can come up with the worst-ever name for a restaurant, argue over which font to use for the menus, and see who can yell the most at their servers. Shhh...d ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars Season 8, Episode 3 Recap: Missing Cash Cab Tie-In

How may we worship you, David Chang?​ David frickin' Chang? Chang the Man? Chang Minus Eng? Chingy-Chingy Chang-Chang? Dudes at Top Chef All-Stars on Bravo are clearly not messin' around, yo. As the chefs walk into the kitchen and see bad-ass David Chang, you can almost hear the sound of the ... More >>

Top Chef All-Stars Season 8, Episode 2 Recap: Fight at the Museum

She did not just say that! This season, Top Chef All-Stars ain't playin', yo, and it's only episode two. Shocks plus surprises equal quickly vanishing memories of the Top Chef D.C. snoozefest. Thank you, Bravo. Let's get started. Just when things are already awesome 'cause we're starting out in ... More >>

Top Chef All Stars Season 8, Episode 1 Recap (Season Premiere): It Shoulda Been Me!

We came so close!​Unpack those friggin' knives, yo! The so-close finalists from the past seven seasons of Top Chef ain't playin' this time around, as they compete to win the grand prize of $200,000 on Top Chef All Stars. Redemption? Saving face? Insults? How can this not be good TV? The premie ... More >>

Karl Boerner of Karl's Quality Bakery

Carol BlonderChristine, Karl and Stephanie Boerner​ "Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first." Whoever first uttered those words was wise, indeed. In the sweet spirit of Top Chef's dessert-only challenge series, Chow Bella's treating you to a profile of a Valley dessert chef each week. This week: Kar ... More >>

Top Chef D.C. Finale: The Boring Train Makes Its Final Stop in Yawnsville

​You can pull the fork out of our eyes now, Top Chef D.C. is finally over, and not even previous Top Chef winner Hung Huynh or chef David Chang (Treme everybody!) saying "fuck" and "balls" could save the finale on Wednesday night from being as boring as the entire season. Ugh, where to begin...

Kings of Pastry Is the Cream Puff of Docs

The Next Food Network Star's Doreen Fang Coming to Hula's

foodnetwork.com​Let's face it: The Valley is pretty TV-friendly, when it comes to food topics. Top Chef's Stephanie Izard has become a downright regular at local culinary events over the last couple of years. TLC recently highlighted a bunch of eateries around town. The Food Network has se ... More >>

Dear Top Chef: Just Desserts, Please Kick Ass in TV's Pastry Playground, Start With Warring Cupcakes

​On Wednesday, September 15, at 11 p.m. ET/PT, Bravo will launch Top Chef: Just Desserts, spin-off of the 2010 Primetime Emmy-nominated and James Beard Award-winning Top Chef. "Pastry chefs have a different brain than savory chefs," says the show's host and judge of Top Chef for the past seven se ... More >>

Top Chef, Ye Olde Bravo Standby, Comes To Snoozeville (Washington D.C.)

Hearts across America have barely started to beat regularly again after last week's amazing finale of Top Chef Masters (congrats, Marcus Samuellson!) and now comes Season 7 of Top Chef. The time-tested Bravo standby will premiere this week, take place in our nation's capital, and, once again, feat ... More >>

Ask the Cook: Where Can I Buy Black Garlic?

This week's question: Where can I find Black Garlic? Black garlic has been touted as a top food trend and a super health food, and it's been featured on Top Chef and Iron Chef episodes. Yet it remains an obscure ingredient, not easily sourced even at specialty food stores or Asian markets in Ph ... More >>

Scottsdale Culinary Festival Wraps Up With Cooks & Corks and the Great Arizona Lushfest

​ ​If you've ever been to the Scottsdale Culinary Festival, you know that it's a world apart from Phoenix's other major culinary events. Some say the festival has slowly spiraled into an all-out drunkfest. Others believe it has evolved to separate the ... More >>

Kitchen Ink: A Photo Essay That Shows Off the Tattoos of the Valley's Rock-Star Chefs

Chef Talk: Christopher Mayo of Metro Brasserie

​​Christopher Mayo may be a fresh face at Metro Brasserie (he was named executive chef when Matt Taylor left in November), but he's certainly no food-scene virgin.  At the tender age of 20, Mayo opened Grilled Expedition at Desert Ridge. Later he split for culinar ... More >>

Sweetbreads at Tempe's Caffe Boa

​ For my dad's annual visit to Arizona last weekend, I wanted to take him out to a nice dinner at someplace where the food would be great and the atmosphere would be comfortable -- anything too trendy wouldn't suit him one bit. So we hit up Caffe Boa in Tempe, which I've always liked (and wh ... More >>

CRAVE Arizona is Perfectly Balanced Gluttony

​Celebrity chefs. Blind wine tasting contests. Food samples from dozens of Valley restaurants. Only two weeks after Scottsdale's Dine Out With the Chefs event, culinary afficianados from across the Valley loosened their belts for another huge epicurean event: CRAVE Arizona ... More >>

Phoenix Phoodies: Phoenix Knife House

Sloane BurwellEythan Zias demonstrates his hand sharpening skills.Eythan Zias is a culinary samurai. After compiling an impressive resume working in famous kitchens in New York City and all over the Valley, he decided to return to an earlier love: knives. He sold off parts of his impressive collecti ... More >>

Food and Fights: Highlights of the 2009 Scottsdale Culinary Festival

Everyone who's anyone in the Phoenix metro culinary scene, from local foodies to the stars of Hell's Kitchen and Bravo's Top Chef, turned out for this weekend's Scottsdale Culinary Festival. Libations flowed at the Southwest Festival of Beers and inside the Robert Mondavi wine garden. Restaurant che ... More >>

Coachella, Franz Ferdinand, Scottsdale Culinary Festival, Phoenix Improv and More Over the Weekend

Best of Coachella 2009 The festival's tenth anniversary took place again this past weekend in the Indio desert with Paul McCartney, M.I.A., Leonard Cohen, My Bloody Valentine. Food and Fights: Highlights of the 2009 Scottsdale Culinary Festival Everyone who's anyone in the Phoenix metro culinary ... More >>

Phoenix Phoodies: Sweet Republic's Bacon Ice Cream

Sloane Burwell Helen Yung and Jan Wichayanuparp have pretty sweet lives. First, they were savvy enough to open the super stylish Sweet Republic (9160 E. Shea Blvd, Scottsdale, 480-248-6979, www.sweetrepublic.com), where ingenious ice cream flavors like Salted Butter Caramel Swirl are the order of th ... More >>

Next Week: Digestif Hosts Top Chef Stephanie Izard

The torturous thing about watching Bravo's Top Chef is that it tends to leave viewers with insatiable cravings for food that only exists in TV land. You watch the chefs hustle to create a dish, you cheer them on... and then, you go to bed very, very hungry. So here's your chance to actually eat ... More >>

Chef Stephanie Izard

Countdown to Eats3: Are You Going?

Top Chef at Phoenix Public Market

Over the Weekend: Top Chef, Native American Basketball and Romantasy Cabaret

Top Chef: The Tour