TopChefMasters-related stories
Posted Nov 23rd 2009 4:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Celebrities, Reality-Free
Hmm... it seems like every network is expanding at the waistline. That is, a bunch of them are getting into food in a big way. Like
Fine Living becoming the Cooking Channel. TLC is also adding more yum yum to the schedule. And the latest has an Oprah angle. Perhaps it's a coincidence, but just about everyone connected to
Oprah Winfrey is getting a TV show these days... Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, Nate Berkus. And now
chef Art Smith has landed a show on TLC. Smith is well-known as Oprah's personal chef.
Art Smith was on Bravo's
Top Chef Masters last summer -- that was his audition -- and he showed himself as a homey, pleasant, unpretentious cook. For TLC, he's going to host
Craving Comfort, with the emphasis on Southern comfort food.
Continue reading Oprah's favorite chef bringing comfort to TLC
Posted Oct 26th 2009 10:02AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Food/Home/DIY, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals, Top Chef
If you're a fan of
Top Chef, there's nothing tougher for the contestants than desserts. Just this past week during 'restaurant wars,' did you notice that one team decided to have no desserts on their menu at all. They just didn't want to risk blowing it.
Well, Bravo noticed, not just last week but all through the
Top Chef series.
Bravo's creating a Top Chef spinoff called Just Desserts in which chefs will have no choice, they'll have to deal with sugar, icing, cakes and struedels.
Top Chef: Just Desserts is the second
Top Chef spinoff, after
Top Chef Masters. I'm anticipating
Top Chef: Maitre D's down the road, aren't you?
Continue reading Bravo orders from the Dessert menu
Posted Aug 18th 2009 3:01PM by John Scott Lewinski
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, Interviews, Celebrities
Kelly Choi grew up in a family and a culture build around food -- an upbringing that made her a natural gourmand and foodie.
That led Choi to a career on local New York City TV as an expert on Manhattan restaurants and global cuisine. Her popularity in the Big Apple led Bravo to sign her up as the host of the ultimate exhibition of culinary competition,
Top Chef Masters.
The daughter of Korean grocers, Choi grew up in and around her parents' store. Choi's friends and family would gather to share, enjoy and discuss food. So, her gig as host brings her back home to her roots.
I spoke with Choi as
Top Chef Masters fans prepared for the series' season finale on August 19.
Continue reading Kelly Choi: Top Chef Masters bickering was "unnecessary"
Posted Jul 16th 2009 1:29PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Reality Shows, OpEd
The way I see it, Bethenny Frankel was the star of
The Real Housewives of New York City ... even though she wasn't a housewife. What was she doing on the show in the first place? Anyway, she was the most dynamic of the group and with her interests in fashion, food and partying, she had the most to offer viewers. The powers that be have seen what I did because
Bethenny Frankel is getting her own Bravo show.
Starting this fall, Bethenny will be front and center in a new show called
Skinny & the City. As you'd expect, she will not be coming back to
The Real Housewives of New York City -- however, she might not be the only one out because rumor has it that the ladies have all been looking for a substantial pay raise.
Continue reading Buh-bye Housewives! Bethenny scores her own show
Posted Apr 8th 2009 3:39PM by Michael Pascua
Filed under: Programming, Early Looks
Bravo has announced the show
Top Chef Masters will begin Wednesday June 10th. The show is basically the celebrity version of
Top Chef, where "world-renowned" chefs will compete for $100,000. The money will be given to their favorite charity. The format hasn't changed: the quickfire and the elimination challenges remain, but there will be a five-star grading system implemented.
There are 24 chefs, but I will have to trust the producers with their use of the words "world-renowned" since I'm just an average guy. One of the few chefs I know is
Top Chef guest judge
Wylie Dufresne, who is well known for his work on molecular gastronomy. The contestants' bios are available on the
Bravo website.
Continue reading Top Chef Masters premieres this June
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