Fall TV Blog

Top Chef took a homespun — but no less gourmet — turn this week as the 10 remaining cheftestants got to work in the kitchen of the Top Chef house, cooking up a family style dinner party for a spate of celebrity chefs. Again, the chefs were paired up — prompting some heat between several pairs.

Quickfire: Guest judge Tyler Florence presided over the Quickfire challenge. The chefs were randomly assigned three words to describe the “mood, taste and texture” of a dish they would have to cook. In a flashy Vegas twist, the adjectives were furnished via a slot machine — and ranged from the specific (“spicy”) to the abstract (“romantic”) to the possibly new-to-some-viewers (“umami,” one of the five basic tastes which vaguely corresponds to “earthy or meaty”). Among the lowlights: Eli, whose umami mushroom dish was drowning in citrus; Jennifer’s scallop and caviar combo; and Robin, whose curry dish wasn’t Middle Eastern and seemed to Florence to be “elementary.” Better, Mike I., Michael V. and Kevin, who won the high stakes challenge and had the tough decision between immunity or $15,000. (He took the money!) (more…)

A little bit of magic and lots of skill — that’s what the judges demanded on Wednesday’s Top Chef. The contestants were visited by Las Vegas illusionists Penn and Teller — and graced by returning judge Toby Young.

Quickfire: Special guest Michelle Bernstein announced the Quickfire challenge: Create a dish that showcases the “angel and devil” sides of your personality. Bernstein loved Robin’s plate, which featured a salad and an apple crumble. “To walk into that salad was an absolute pleasure,” she said, before announcing Robin the winner. She even bested frontrunner Michael V. and Eli, who made a decadent risotto. This did not make her fellow chefs happy.

Drama Alert: After already complaining about her inccessant talking in the kitchen, many of the contestants bemoaned Mattin’s dismissal (and sported his red neckerchiefs in tribute) and complained about the fact that Robin was still there after serving up toxic shrimp last week. “I’m proud of what I’ve accomplished,” she said. Robin also revealed that she was diagnosed with cancer, which influenced her winning dish. The revelation earned her no pity from fellow chefs like Mike I. (more…)

There’s the adage “if you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen” — and then there was Wednesday’s Top Chef, where the kitchen was literally an infernal desert. Many of the chefs couldn’t handle 100-degree-plus temperatures — but luckily only one was sent home after serving a meal to ranchers outside Las Vegas.

Quickfire: The cheftestants got a taste of the Southwestern direction the episode was heading when they were asked to cook a dish made from cactus. The slimy item proved to be a formidable ingredient for some, but not necessarily as tough as no-nonsense guest judge Tim Love. The winner of the challenge, Mike Isabella, nabbed $15,000 and praise for properly treating the cactus. (He cured it, by the way, to take the slime out). While the losers, Ash (for his dry tortilla concoction) and Ron, whose dish featured “crab [that] tasted rancid” to Love — earned his consternation. (more…)

Let’s take a minute to digest all that drama on Wednesday’s supersized Top Chef. With its twists and turns (a chef was eliminated after a Quickfire!) and a classical French cooking elimination challenge that led to a second chef packing up and leaving, the episode was truly the first nail-biter of this season. After one chef was bounced early on, the remaining 13 were asked to concoct a classic French meal for Joël Robuchon – known as the “Chef of the Century” – and a who’s who of French masters like Daniel Boulud. Translation: Bonne chance, chefs!

Quickfire: First, though, all 14 remaining chefs met up with Tom Colicchio and Boulud inside his Las Vegas brasserie. Their challenge? To cook a winning dish using escargot – a.k.a. snails – as their main protein. It was to be a “high stakes” challenge – meaning the losing chef would be immediately sent home. Immediately, the tough talking Mike Isabella soared to the top for his Greek-inspired dish and Jennifer Carroll delighted the chefs with her Yuzu-accented snails. (Can we just hand her the Top Chef title already?) But Kevin Gillespie triumphed in the end for his Southern snail plate with bacon jam. Less fortunate: Ashley Merriman, Robin Leventhal and Jesse Sandlin. (more…)

On Wednesday’s Top Chef, the remaining cheftestants were enlisted for a challenging — and patriotic — task: Cook a meal for over 300 members of the U.S. Air Force and their families with whatever supplies, foodstuffs and cooking equipment they could find in the kitchen at Nellis Air Force Base.

It was tough task, sure, but ultimately a heartwarming one that found the group pulling together as a team. Still, as always, someone was sent packing at the end of the super-sized episode.

Quickfire: This week’s guest judge should have been pretty familiar to loyal Top Chef Masters viewers: It was L.A.-based chef Mark Peel, and he presided over an “out of this world” potato challenge. (Padma’s words!) The contestants had to produce a delectable potato dish from one of the seemingly zillion varieties of spuds sitting in the kitchen. Peel dubbed Jennifer Carroll the winner for her mussels with a potato cream sauce but gave honorable mention to Ashley Merriman, whose gnocchi almost didn’t get cooked in time after Preeti Mistry accidentally filched her boiling water. (more…)

Someone was getting hitched and someone else went home on Wednesday’s Top Chef after the cheftestants were split into teams along conventional gender lines and asked to cook for a bachelor and bachelorette party with the men serving up food for the ladies and vice versa. Equally conventional: the entire wedding setup! Where were the Elvis impersonator, the drive-thru chapel and the “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” approach to late-night, last minute nuptials? Clearly this wedding was planned!

Quickfire: Guest judge Todd English sidled up to a craps table as Padma explained the chefs’ task: They had to roll dice and cook a dish in 30 minutes using the number of ingredients that matched the number they rolled. The winner would receive $15,000 and immunity. Last week’s elimination challenge victor Kevin impressed with his plate, as did last week’s runner-up Jennifer Carroll. But neither took the prize. Instead, the winner was Michael Voltaggio — one of the brothers — who cooked up “nitro gazpacho and compressed cucumbers” with toast. Molecular gastronomy gets ‘em every time. (more…)

What happens when Top Chef moves to Las Vegas? If Wednesday’s premiere episode was any indication, there will be showgirls, a sibling rivalry, hot tempers (and food!) and games of chance. The action-packed premiere had the 17 contestants splitting into teams for a classic Quickfire challenge: the mise en place relay race … with a twist. The top teams were asked to compete in a cook-off and the winning chef earned a surprise $15,000 in prize money.

Then with a nod to the “sin” part of Vegas’s Sin City moniker, the chefs prepared a dish inspired by their biggest vice in the first elimination challenge. The results were mixed — with some witty dishes and some “real turkeys,” to quote guest judge Wolfgang Puck.

Keep reading for the highlights and head-scratching moments from last night’s episode. –Brian Orloff

The One to Beat: Philadelphia-based chef Jennifer Carroll proved to be a skilled competitor with confidence. “I can be a freakin’ bitch in the kitchen,” she said. “I’ve made enough boys cry.” Then she won the Quickfire challenge — and the cash prize — for her clam ceviche. Later, Carroll earned praise from Puck for her halibut dish and placed in the top 2 in the elimination challenge. (more…)

Tom Colicchio has absolutely no regrets about naming Hosea Rosenberg winner on Wednesday’s Top Chef season finale, and now he has something to say to fuming fans.

“If I had to do it all over again, reading what I’m reading, I’d still say Hosea wins. He made a better meal,” he told PEOPLE exclusively, calling from New York on Thursday afternoon.

While some fans – including many PEOPLE.com readers – stewed over Rosenberg’s victory and emphasized Stefan Richter’s multiple wins and Carla Hall’s passion for food, Colicchio, who acts as the show’s head judge, stands by the judges’ decision.

“It’s fortunate for Hosea that he put together a better meal than Stefan,” Colicchio says. “Simple as that. We don’t care about personalities. We don’t care about who was making out. We simply care about who put together a better meal from start to finish.”

Plus, he adds, the judges only consider the output from that night’s challenge – never relying on past performances or outside factors.

“I come to Judges’ Table with an idea of who I think should win based on what the challenge was – not based on who I think the best chef is,” he says. (more…)

He sweat it out in New Orleans — and on Wednesday night Hosea Rosenberg, 35, was named Top Chef after beating finalists Carla and Stefan. His secret? Quiet confidence, says the Boulder, Colo.-based chef, who celebrated his win with a rooftop viewing party. “I didn’t get much sleep last night,” he says the next morning. Calling before he begins his official media tour, the Top Chef winner takes on his fierce competitors, explains what happened after his infamous kiss with Leah and tells us what he plans to do with his $100,000 prize. – Brian Orloff

Congratulations on winning. How hard was it for you to keep it a secret?
It wasn’t that hard actually. It was this cool secret and I wanted everyone to find out at the same time. I couldn’t let it get spilled. It sounds weird but it was easier to keep this secret than it was when I got back from New York and knew I was going to the finale. That was actually a harder secret to keep.

You didn’t seem rattled at all during the final challenge — even with the twist. How confident were you?
My attitude was just different in New Orleans. When we were in New York a lot of stuff happened, including the Leah incident. It really rattled me. For the last few weeks there, I really wasn’t feeling like myself — and it showed in my performance. I started out in the beginning of the show doing pretty well. [But then] I was just kind of flipping by. I felt like I barely got into the finale. I was the underdog going in there. But I had some time off and I got to re-collect myself. And for me, going into anything in life with a good attitude … you’ll perform better. I was just thrilled to be there at all. (more…)

He cooked steadily — and quietly — all season, and in Wednesday’s finale, Hosea Rosenberg, 35, bested fan favorite Carla Hall and uber-confident Stefan Richter to become Top Chef.

Cooking a three-course meal — plus a surprise appetizer — at New Orleans’s famed Commander’s Palace, the Boulder, Colo.-based chef came out ahead thanks to his final dish: venison served over wild mushrooms and carbonated blackberries.

“I’m kind of in shock right now,” Rosenberg said after claiming his title and its accompanying $100,000 prize. “I’m just so happy. It feels pretty damn cool.”

Aided by Top Chef finalists from seasons past, including Richard Blais (matched with Hosea), Marcel Vigneron (partnered with Stefan) and Casey Thompson (paired with Carla), the three chefs were, of course, thrown one last twist by head judge Tom Colicchio. They would have to serve an appetizer course utilizing indigenous ingredients: redfish, alligator and crab. (more…)