Top Chef Masters, a spinoff of Bravo TV’s popular Top Chef, is scheduled to premier its second season on April 7, 2010. As these things come and go, networks try to make a big deal of announcing the cast for any upcoming season of a reality TV show.
After several months of rumors, the lid was popped on this can just a short while ago. For comedic relief, I’ve included a little screen shot of a search I did on the topic. Notice how the first four search results all said “Exclusive.” HA! Okay, useless eye candy shot and all that good stuff after the jump!
When the host of Bravo TV’s Inside the Actor’s Studio heard that the highly regarded Foodie Buddha was doing a food series inspired by his TV show … he jumped at the opportunity to participate. Thankfully, we were able to catch it on film and needless to say, it’s scrumptulesent (spelling?)
Yesterday, I mentioned how online media portal Hulu.com added Martin Yan’s Hong Kong to their repertoire. Today, I figured that I might as well expand on that post just a bit. If you don’t spend a lot of time on the computer, and/or don’t try and stay plugged in to the “what’s happening at an internet near you,” it is quite possible that the name Hulu is nothing more than a head-scratcher.
The joint-venture startup launched just shy of three-years ago and currently houses thousands upon thousands of hours of television. Unlike some of those other sites offering free television programming, Hulu has several major advantages. Most notably, it’s legit … so everything is super duper high quality.
The site offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from TV stations like NBC, Fox, ABC and many other networks and studios. Of particular interest to ya’ll is the website’s Food & Leisure channel. There you’ll find all shows from the likes of Paula Deen, Bobby Flay, and Gordon Ramsey (who doesn’t love to see Gordo go ape all over some moronic excuse for a restaurateur – aka Kitchen Nightmares). Meanwhile, Bravo TV shows like Top Chef are available for your viewing pleasure, as is the Food Network’s Good Eats with Atlantan Alton Brown, and the PBS show Diary of a Foodie.
Even if food related television isn’t your favorite, Hulu is definitely worth a visit. The site is just loaded with great stuff. Alright folks, until we eat again. Meanwhile, any of you who actually have employees working under you – make a beeline for your IT Department and ask them to block the website … otherwise, you’re gonna have some ravenously unproductive people in your office in about 30-minutes.
As bloggers, we all try and do something to stand out. Creative juices flow and the result are things like Tami’sEat On 30, Jimmy’s pizza thang, and Kessler’s new found 30 in 30 (note: that’s a link to twitter and it should fill in as the days pass). Those all require a lot of work, heavy organizational skills, and a lot of time. I wanted to go for something a little more lighthearted and a little less time intensive.
As a result, starting this week, I’ll be running the first post in a series I’m tagging as “Inside The Chef’s Kitchen.” Though the name isn’t super original, many of you may make the immediate connection to the über cool Bravo TV show – Inside the Actors Studio. At the end of each episode, host James Lipton prods his guest into answering the following questions:
1. What is your favorite word? 2. What is your least favorite word? 3. What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally? 4. What turns you off? 5. What is your favorite curse word? 6. What sound or noise do you love? 7. What sound or noise do you hate? 8. What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? 9. What profession would you not like to do? 10. If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?
Borrowed from French talk show host Bernard Pivot, the list is essentially a twice removed take on the Proust Questionnaire (wiki). Using that as the inspiration, I’m going to track down a few chefs from the Atlanta area (and nearby), and put them to the task (with a modified list of course!) Hopefully, I’ll be able to do this every Friday … so we’ll see how long I can stick to that. You’ll be able to follow the action on the blog or via my twitter account using the hash tag #itck. Meanwhile, if you’re a chef or if you know a chef, feel free to contact me! I can always use the people.
By now, you almost certainly know that Atlanta’s own Kevin Gillespie, the chef/partner at Woodfire Grill, is kicking ass and taking name on Top Chef: Las Vegas. His latest accolade came on the heels of an impressive quickfire performance in which he prepared snail fricassee with bacon jam, parsley puree, Brussels sprouts, and mushrooms. Lucky for us, Bravo posted an instructional video on their website. So here it is in all it’s glory:
Ah, the joys of being an independent blogger with no editor, no boss, no financial obligations, and nobody to answer to but myself … let’s embrace it!
If you haven’t figured it out yet, let me tell you that I am indeed a fan of Top Chef. While there is plenty of bullshit that goes on behind the scenes, it seems to be one of the only (if not the only) reality show with some actual street cred. That it’s about food is just an added bonus. Actually, scratch that – because it’s about food AND since it seems at least quasi legit – I like it. Because it’s “usually” well done means I really like it.
As luck would have it, it seems that I’ve stumbled upon a little bit of information about the upcoming season. Before we begin, let us get a few things straight. A) I’m not going to tell you how I found out. B) I will tell you that this information did not come from anyone in the restaurant biz nor from one of my fellow bloggers. C) I wouldn’t be writing this post if I was completely full of crap. That said, I may be wrong here. So proceed at your own risk. If it turns out I’ve been misinformed, well – I warned you.
Keeping that in mind, if you want some “off the record dirt,” then read read on. If you like surprises, well, I suggest you stop reading now.
Got to love the inbox. Top Chef Masters, the spin-off show with some serious firepower, is hitting the airwaves on June 10th. In addition to some awesome contestants [Hubert Keller], impressive judges [Gael Greene], and a hottie host [Padma has some serious competition], the show will have a handful of celebrity guests (calling Doogie Howser, M.D.). Sorry ATL, no love for us. Still, this looks like a must watch for all us foodies. The press release after the jump!
Richard Blais continues his metamorphosis from kitchen slinger to celebrity chef. By now, we all know about the long waits at FLIP, his time on Top Chef, and his propensity for multi-tasking. While he has had a blog over on BravoTV.com, Richard has now gone local. Over at Creative Loafing, Richard is making waves as a guest blogger on Omnivore. The series is called the “Knife’s Edge” and his latest blurb is about the various celebrity food critics around town.
Since my idiotic property managers require me to pay $45/month for cable, I still can’t ditch my cable. That said, you probably can! Well … almost. I would say we’re just a BravoTV and PBS stream away from saying buh bye to cable. Though The Food Network programming isn’t as good as it should be (Top Chef or ATK anyone?), all their programs are available online. This isn’t a tech blog – so I’m not going to go into how to rig a “cable-less tv” environment. However, it isn’t too difficult – if you want my advice … just shoot me an email.
Have dreams of unseating Richard Blais as celebrity chef in ATL? Here is your chance. Planning for season six of “Top Chef” has kicked into high gear. In that spirit, they have issued a press release with all the usual information. This is your chance to hang out with Padma, Tom, and everyone else! One guess as to where the try out are going to be. Details after the jump!
Top Chef Masters, a spinoff of Bravo TV’s popular Top Chef, is scheduled to premier its second season on April 7, 2010. As these things come and go, networks try to make a big deal of announcing the cast for any upcoming season of a reality TV show.
