Remember last year when Chris Cosentino, one of the pioneers of the offal revival, visited Toronto for undisclosed reasons and claimed he could smell Chinatown from three blocks away? Or when Richard Blais, the molecularly inclined winner of Top Chef All-Stars, tweeted about the interesting tasting menu he’d just lunched on in Toronto? Or when Italian food legend Lidia Bastianich dropped in at All the Best Fine Foods? Turns out they weren’t here just because they love us—they’re all guest judges on season two of Top Chef Canada. Other notable judges and tasters include—and let us be clear, this is a bit of a spoiler for those who really like to keep their Top Chef Canada viewing pure—east-coast chef Michael Smith, season one host Thea Andrews (no hard feelings, we guess!), chef-about-town Matty Matheson of Parts and Labour, Leafs assistant captain Colby Armstrong, Susur Lee and his soon-to-be restaurateur sons Kai and Jet Bent-Lee, Toca’s Tom Brodi, Roger Mooking, Top Chef Masters winner Marcus Samuelson, last season’s winner Dale MacKay and his adorable son Ayden, Keisha Chante, Rick the Temp Campanelli, Lorenzo Loseto of George, Charlie’s Burgers mastermind Franco Stalteri, husband-and-wife dynamos Marc Thuet and Biana Zorich, Odd Bits author Jennifer McLagan, Vancouver Indian restaurateur and chef Vikram Vij and assorted competitors from last season, not to mention the somewhat bizarro guests we already told you about, like Alan Thicke and Mike Holmes. (Whew!) Not bad.
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Top Chef Canada reveals the rather stacked list of guest judges for season two
Top Chef Texas crew spotted in Vancouver, presumably filming the finale
(Image: heydrienne)
Rain, Lululemon, hippies and now… Top Chef? Eater drew our attention to a series of tweets that suggest the entire Top Chef Texas crew is filming the show’s finale in that most Texan of cities, Vancouver. Judges Tom Colicchio and Emeril Lagasse were allegedly spotted dining at Hawksworth, while Owen Lightly, a catering chef, tweeted that he “Saw a bunch of contestants from Top Chef Texas in Whole Foods on Cambie today shopping for ingredients.” If the rumours are true (and it seems like they are), that would mean the Lone Star State ponied up $400,000 to host the series and was then shut out of the finale. Does that qualify as messing with Texas? Read the entire story [Eater] »
Under the Bajan sun, Mark McEwan drops a few hints about season two of Top Chef Canada
(Video: Si Si Penaloza)
At the Barbados Food and Wine and Rum Festival in November, Canada was represented by Toronto chefs Mark McEwan (Bymark, North 44, One, McEwan Foods) and Tom Brodi (Toca, Canoe), along with the likes of celeb chefs Tom Colicchio, Ming Tsai and Marcus Samuelsson. In this clip, we grilled chef McEwan, head judge on Top Chef Canada, about the upcoming season. With the Bajan sun beating down and the gas stove cranked up, McEwan, struggling with his gnocchi, dropped a couple of tiny clues. First, just as in the U.S. version of the show, the calibre of chefs in season two seems to have been ratcheted up. Second, it appears as though there will be more than one Toronto chef in the final six. Of course, we’ll have to wait until March 12 (and the weeks thereafter) to find out.
Recipe to Riches Reviewed: Episode 7, Slow and Low Pulled Pork
Ok, so host Jesse Palmer didn’t exactly loosen up like we hoped he would last week. And sure, the show didn’t really get any less formulaic this time around (every episode does proceed the exact same way as the last, so what do you expect?). But, curmudgeons that we are, we have to admit that last night’s episode of Recipe to Riches, the entrée challenge, was probably the best. We had three compelling contestants, each of whom was pretty serious about their dish. And each of those dishes was in turn at least plausible as a winner. So this being the final challenge, it’s fair to say the show is going out on something like a high (if it comes back next year, however, the producers are going to have to learn how to mix things up a bit from episode to episode). After the jump, our regular recap and tasting panel.
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Q&A with Lisa Ray, the new host of Top Chef Canada, on the joys and perils of eating for a living
(Image: Top Chef Canada/Insight Productions)
Yesterday we told you that actress and former model Lisa Ray had been pegged to replace Thea Andrews as host of Top Chef Canada. We caught up today with the 39-year-old Torontonian to try to pry some secrets about the second season, which airs March 12 on Food Network Canada. For the most part, we failed. Still, Ray did tell us a bit about working with Mark McEwan, turning into a professional eater and learning about food on the job. Read our Q&A with her after the jump.
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Recipe to Riches reviewed: Episode 1, Luscious Lemon Pudding Cakes
Last night was the premiere of Recipe to Riches, the much-hyped new Food Network Canada show where each week, a trio of home cooks compete in one of eight different categories to determine whose recipe would make the best President’s Choice product. (No, really.) The show was one pinch of So You Think You Can Dance’s nationwide talent search, a dollop Top Chef’s cook offs and product placement and a heap of Dragon’s Den’s Marketing 101, all whirred in a blender. To be honest, it can sometimes make for a strange mix—the Top Chef–style solemnity that greets each elimination seems a little out place when the contestants change every episode. Each winning product will show up on Loblaws shelves the weekend after the episode airs, and at the end, viewers will vote to crown the winner of a $250,000 grand prize. Every week, we’ll be bringing an advance sample of the winning dish into our office to see whether it’s worth the trip to the grocery store. After the jump, our thoughts on the winner of the Sweet Puddings and Pies challenge.
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Q&A with Padma Lakshmi: the Top Chef host, who’ll be in town for the Delicious Food Show, talks about her favourite contestants and places to eat
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Padma Lakshmi, the model, actress, sometime singer, Top Chef host and bestselling cookbook author, will be in town this weekend for the Delicious Food Show at the Better Living Centre. The show, which will also see appearances from Mark McEwan, David Rocco and Afrim Pristine of the Cheese Boutique, will feature cooking demonstrations, tastings, a wine-stomping and more. We chatted with the former supermodel about some of her favourite places to eat, her Top Chef co-star Tom Colicchio and her impressions of eating out in Toronto.
SPOTTED: Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio feeding the stars at last week’s Moneyball cast dinner
When you’re feeding Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Anna Faris and Jonah Hill at the Moneyball cast dinner, it makes sense to spring for decent grub, which is presumably why the people behind the Vitamin Water rooftop at the Burroughes Building brought in Top Chef head judge Tom Colicchio to cook for the stars last Friday. Before dinner, the guests munched on pork belly confit wrapped in Boston bibb lettuce and threw back watermelon gazpachos with cucumber and tobiko. The meal itself began with (among other dishes) hamachi crudo with coriander vinaigrette and celery hearts, and ricotta ravioli with roasted summer squash, before moving on to mains like roasted diver scallops with shallot butter and preserved lemon, and red wine–braised short ribs with baby root veggies. It finished off with an assortment of petit fours. Sadly, we were not in attendance.
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We chat with the winner of Top Chef Canada season one
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We caught up with the winner of season one of Top Chef Canada last night shortly after the show aired to get their impressions on the season and find out what they’re doing with the loot (the grand prize was $100,000, along with a GE Monogram kitchen). And yes, we’re keeping things intentionally vague to stave off spoilers. Read our Q&A and find out who won, after the jump.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 13: the winner takes it all
It’s okay. We don’t bite. Really. (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
It’s been quite a ride. After 12 weeks of special guests, horsing around and glorious product placement, season one of Top Chef Canada has come to a close. And what better way to kick off the final episode than with a smart-alecky assessment of the final three contestants from Mercatto’s Rob Rossi? There’s Dale MacKay, with three wins to his name, who’s known, Rossi said, for “doing crazy high-end food” (translation: no soul). There’s Connie DeSousa, also with three wins, who does “sausages and home cooking” (translation: no sophistication). And then there’s Rossi, with four wins, who tries “to do a whole bunch of different things” (translation: has it going on). After the jump, the full rundown of the final face-off.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 12: family-styled
The chefs steel themselves before judges David Lee, Gail Simmons and Jacob Richler. (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 12
Season one of Top Chef Canada has been all about head judge Mark McEwan’s approach to cooking: luxurious ingredients, simply prepared with exceptional technique. Last night’s episode felt like a master class in that philosophy, so it was only appropriate that the chefs started out chatting with McEwan over brunch at his Yorkville mainstay One. Sure, the conversation might have veered toward the painfully awkward, and sure, McEwan dropped some obviously scripted hints about this love of family-style presentation. But there was still something charming about seeing the four remaining contestants—Dustin Gallagher, Dale MacKay, Connie DeSousa and Rob Rossi— yammer on about their love of food and cooking. Of course, it was all went downhill from there. After the jump, our recap of an episode that featured some high-calibre guests, a tortured quickfire concept and some strangely disappointing cooking (not to mention a Toronto Life shout-out).
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Top Chef Canada recap, episode 11: street meet
Rob Feenie with host Thea Andrews (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 11
From the opening moments of last night’s Top Chef Canada, we learned the following: Dale MacKay, the supremely arrogant self-confident Vancouver chef, actually has a soft side (he was missing his young son); Montreal-by-way-of Vancouver chef François Gagnon sleeps without his shirt on; Mercatto executive chef Rob Rossi likes to sleep in; and Connie DeSousa is feeling the pressure to win the competition for all the female chefs out there (about Grace’s Dustin Gallagher, we learned nothing). None of these micro-developments gave away who the winner and loser might be. After the jump, the twists and turns that brought us down to the final four.
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Toronto Taste 2011: We get the latest news from top chefs and restaurateurs from Woodlot, Buca, Nota Bene, O&B and many more
Rob Gentile (Buca), David Lee (Nota Bene), Andrea Nicholson (Great Cooks on Eight), Paul Boehmer (Böhmer), Teo Paul (Union)
Two thousand of Toronto’s food lovers and makers gathered at the ROM on Sunday for the 21st edition of Toronto Taste. The annual fundraiser—which raises money for Second Harvest—saw more than 60 restaurants and 30 beverage purveyors offering their best to the guests. Burgers and tacos might have been the plats du jour, but new restaurant openings seemed to be the hottest item on the plates of many chefs and restaurateurs we spoke to. Here’s what we heard from Buca’s Rob Gentile, Woodlot’s David Haman, Scarpetta’s Scott Conant, Splendido’s Victor Barry, Top Chef Canada contestants Dustin Gallagher and Andrea Nicholson and many more.
The Revue screens Kings of Pastry doc as part of foodie film series
Attention pastry nerds: you might want to consider cancelling your evening plans, because tonight The Revue on Roncesvalles is showing Kings of Pastry, D. A. Pennebaker’s documentary about Chicago-based pastry chef Jacquy Pfeiffer and the gruelling Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) competition as part of its food-themed series, The Epicure’s Revue. Every four years, 16 of the world’s finest pastry chefs meet in Lyon to duel it out over three intensive days for the right to wear the coveted red-, white- and blue-striped collar, one of the highest honours in French cooking. Chefs work around the clock, perfecting dozens of unique creations before a verdict is handed down by a group of master judges, themselves all MOFs. Think Ace of Cakes meets Top Chef, but a lot more complicated and with a wicked French accent. After the show, some restaurants and food shops from the area will be offering film-appropriate dishes, including Barque’s popular pecan pie, The Local’s Irish truffle and The Chocolateria’s Nanaimo bars and house-made ice cream.
Top Chef Canada recap, episode 10: puffed up
Guest judge Lynn Crawford with host Thea Andrews (Image: Food Network Canada/Insight Productions)
TOP CHEF CANADA
Season 1 | Episode 10
This week’s episode of Top Chef Canada began with Vancouver-based chef François Gagnon mourning the loss of recently eliminated “hockey man” Darryl Crumb. What form did the tribute take? The ritual placement of a hockey stick in what we think was Crumb’s old bunk, of course (somehow it was fitting that the Bruins were already four goals up against the Canucks at that point). Last night also featured what we were primed to believe would be the demise of tough-as-nails Connie DeSousa, who, despite eight seasons of Top Chef history warning against the use of store-bought pastry, used it anyway. The fallout from that cataclysmic decision and a full recap of everything else that went down, after the jump.
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