Thursday, August 13, 2009
Restaurants Unpack your knives: Previewing 'Top Chef'
Posted by Emily Hansen on Thu, Aug 13, 2009 at 2:41 PM
It's time to unpack your knives. “Top Chef” is back and it's more local than ever.
The new season of “Top Chef,” this time set in glitzy Las Vegas, starts this month, and, as previously unveiled, will include three Atlanta chefs, the most of any season: Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill, Hector Santiago of Pura Vida, and Eli Kirshtein of Eno.
Gillespie, Santiago, and Kirshtein are just three of the 17 cheftestants featured on the upcoming season. Others include the executive chef for Google, a Frenchman from Biarritz, and a finalist for the James Beard Best New Restaurant award. My biggest question leading into the series (other than how the economy has affected Padma's wardrobe) is how well the locals will fare against the rest of the competition. Past chefs have gone to both extremes: Atlanta-based chef Nimma Osman was the first to pack her knives on the Chicago edition of “Top Chef” while Richard Blais made it to the same season's finale. How well do you think Gillespie, Santiago, and Kirshstein will fare? And will any of their restaurant's dishes wind up on the judges plates?
To get a better feel for where the locals will end up on the “Top Chef” food chain, here is a brief introduction to the rest of the cast (check out next week's food feature for an in-depth look at the Atlanta contestants):
Eve Aronoff: Michigan native Eve Aronoff has cooked for the James Beard Foundation, published her own cookbook, and opened her own restaurant, also named Eve, in Ann Arbor. What more could she want? Apparently, the “Top Chef” title.
Jennifer Carroll: Jennifer Carroll, a Philadelphia based chef, already has an in with the judges. Carroll is the chef de cuisine at 10 Arts, a restaurant by frequent “Top Chef” judge Eric Ripert. I wonder how that will work if Ripert makes his usual appearance.
Ron Duprat: Originally from Haiti, Ron Duprat brings a little bit more than Creole flavors to the table: he also brings much-coveted dessert skills. His signature dish is a flourless chocolate cake. (A flourless chocolate cake counts as a "signature dish"? Ummm...OK).
Ash Fulk: Sous chef at New York City's Trestle on Tenth, Ash Fulk is bringing back classic “Top Chef.” While he's certainly not an amateur, like, say, line chef Michael from season two, he is self-taught and doesn't have the culinary accolades of some of his fellow cheftestants.
Michael Isabella: Executive Chef for Zaytinya in Washington DC, Michael Isabella is as focused on Mediterranean foods as his restaurant is, that gets its name from the Turkish for olive oil.
Robin Leventha: Founder and chef of the late Crave in Seattle, Robin Leventhal is a self-educated artist-turned-chef. Her restaurant, which closed last October , featured entrees such as garlic pea vines and goat cheese gnocchi, but was best known for its breakfast dishes. Be sure to watch out for her on the inevitable egg challenge.
Ashley Merriman: Ashley Merriman, originally from, get this, Center Sandwich, NH, is now the chef at Branzino, an Italian based restaurant in Seattle. Let's just hope she doesn't get stuck making pasta, pasta, pasta, like Nikki from season four.
Preeti Mistry: Working for Bon Appetite Management Company, Preeti Mistry earned herself a pretty sweet gig: executive chef for Google's high class cafeteria. Born in London to Indian parents, Mistry's food features a combination of influences and focuses on sustainable ingredients.
Mattin Noblia: Mattin Noblia is as Basque as his San Fransisco restaurant Iluna Basque, named for the Basque region of southwestern France where he grew up. The restaurant, which Noblia opened when he was just 23, offers a tapas menu including prawns cazuela and plums wrapped in bacon.
Jesse Sandlan: A self-taught chef based out of Baltimore bed and breakfast Abacrombie Fine Food and Accommodation, Sandlan worked in California and Australia before settling in Maryland, and counts bacon and duck fat among her key ingredients.
Bryan Voltaggio: Last season we thought it was a little weird that the first two cheftestants told to pack their knives were buddies from culinary school. This season, it gets a little weirder. Bryan, chef/owner of Volt in his hometown in Maryland, is one of two Voltaggios on this season of “Top Chef.”
Michael Voltaggio: Chef de cuisine at The Dining Room, Langham Hunington Hotel & Spa in Los Angeles and brother of Bryan, Michael Voltaggio already has quite a resume: the chef has earned a “AAA 5 Diamond” and “Mobil Award” and was even a finalist for the James Beard “Best New Restaurant” award when he worked at Bazaar by James Andres. I wonder how he'll find his more “amateur” competition.
Lauren Wickett: Resident caterer Lauren Wickett is just as on trend as her restaurant counterparts (unlike, say, Betty of “Top Chef” season two). Her catering company Left Coast Catering offers seasonal menus that are rotated each year. This summer's offerings include cornmeal fried green tomatoes and smoked pork corndogs.
Jennifer Zavala: A New England girl, Jennifer Zavala's menu at El Camino Real in Philadelphia, where she is executive chef, is more southwestern than east coast. Zavala's specialties include Nortena and Tejas dishes and her El Camino Real tex-mex menu is filled with Mexican staples like burritos and plenty of Texas style barbeque.
(Photo courtesy Bravo TV)
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