Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I just finished this series and I loved it. I can cook but I certainly am not a chef. Nevertheless, I adore watching these chefs in their competitions plus I am a creative person so I am learning. I will never be able to do the complex dishes but one learns that often the simpler dishes do better in the competitions. The mortal sin seems to be in undercooking or overcooking anything. If you can stay away from this flaw, you are actually in the running for being a heck of a cook. I began watching this show because I've enjoyed Project Runway so much. One thing that is better for the contestants with this show is that the contestants get great prizes all the way through. In season six this aspect improves even more. So everyone seems to go home with some really great prizes. The judges are really generous with their prizes for winners too. Project Runway is a lot stingier towards its contestants. Maybe chefs are just more generous people than fashion designers. It sure seems so. I applaud Top Chef for creating rewards for as many contestants as possible. No matter what your level of cooking skill, you will enjoy this show. I do not watch reality tv generally but I do like it where you can improve your own skill level by watching these competitions.
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Top Chef: New York (Season 5)The world-class culinary competition only gets fiercer in TOP CHEF: NEW YORK--the No. 1 food show on cable--as 17 new cheftestants head to the Big Apple to test their skills and compete for culinary stardom. Featuring some of the biggest names in food and entertainment, the fifth season of this Emmy®-award winning series welcomes newbie Toby Young to the judges' table alongside host Padma Lakshmi, head judge and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons. In the most challenging season yet, the cheftestants battle to prove they have what it takes to be crowned the next Top Chef.
DVD features:
-Exclusive cookbook -Never-aired stew room footage -Extended interviews -Cooking demonstrations -PC game demo
Vote for your favorite contestant, read bios, and more in our Top Chef: New York Store.
COMPETITION STAGES
Episode 1: Melting Pot
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are welcomed to the Big Apple by host Padma Lakshmi and head judge Tom Colicchio and their skills are put to the test with a three round apple tournament. Elimination Challenge: Each of the chefs draws a knife from the knife block marked with one of eight New York City neighborhoods. The chefs teams must cook dishes which represent the ethnic cuisines of those neighborhoods. Guest Judge: Jean-Georges Vongerichten (Elimination Challenge)
Episode 2: Show Your Craft
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are asked to create their version of a classic, well-loved New York dish: the hot dog and the compete against Angelina DiAngelo of Dominick's Hot Dog Truck in Queens. Elimination Challenge: The chefs must now open what Padma calls "Top Chef Restaurant" in Manhattan. They are asked to create a three-course New American lunch menu for fifty diners.Guest judge Donatella Arpaia, a successful restaurateur and food expert (Quickfire Challenge)
Episode 3: A Foo Fighters Thanksgiving
Quickfire Challenge: Padma announces that this week's challenge is about "rolling with the punches." The chefs are asked to draw knives. Each knife is marked with a number, which refers to a specific page in "Top Chef: The Cookbook." Contestants are given an hour to put their own spin on the recipe from that page Elimination Challenge: The chefs are asked to cook Thanksgiving dinner for the rock band Foo Fighters and its entire entourage of more than 60 guests at the band’s next venue. Guest judge and award-winning molecular gastronomist Grant Achatz.(Quickfire+Elimination Challenges), Foo Fighters (Elimination Challenge)
Episode 4: Today Show
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are given 30 minutes to create a breakfast amuse-bouche for the Today Show. Elimination Challenge: The chefs are asked to create a dish that can be cooked and served for a 2½-minute live television presentation, which will be taped inside the Top Chef kitchen. They are to be taken to Rockefeller Center to cook their dishes for the hosts of NBC's The Today Show.Guests Rocco DiSpirito (Quickfire+Elimination Challenges), Today Show Cast (Elimination Challenge)
Episode 5: Gail’s Bridal Shower
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs pair up and are taken into a darkened kitchen where they are given 15 seconds to taste a specific sauce. They must then bid on the number of ingredients they think they can name correctly. Elimination Challenge: Padma asks the chefs to prepare a four-course meal for 40 of Gail's bridal shower. Each course is to be inspired by one of the lines of the traditional wedding rhyme, "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue." Guest judge Dana Cowin (Elimination Challenge)
Episode 6: 12 Days of Christmas
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs are asked to create a "one pot wonder" – a holiday meal that can be prepared in just one cooking vessel – and present it to Martha Stewart. Elimination Challenge: The chefs must create dishes inspired by lines from “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and cater a 250 guest holiday party hosted by the American Foundation for AIDS Research. Guest judges Martha Stewart (Quickfire Challenge), Natasha Richardson and Michelle Bernstein (Elimination Challenge)
Episode 7: Focus Group
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs have 45 minutes to craft a sugar-free dessert so good, the judges will think there is "nothing diet about it." Elimination Challenge: The chefs must create dishes that express their individuality and serve the food family style to the judges and an unspecified number of mystery food experts. Guest judge Jean-Christophe Novelli (Quickfire+Elimination Challenges)
Episode 8: Down on the Farm
Quickfire Challenge: The chefs have 15 minutes to create a delicious dish using only canned goods. Elimination Challenge: The chefs are asked to draw knives and split into three teams: Team Chicken, Team Lamb, and Team Pork. The chefs are to create a delicious, seasonal lunch for 16 people based on their team's protein. Their menu must be served family-style, and must include a dessert.Guest judge Hung Huynh (Quickfire Challenge), Dan Barber (Elimination Challenge)
Episode 9: Restaurant Wars
Quickfire Challenge: The contestants must do a tasting for restaurateur Stephen Starr. The chefs then have 30 minutes and complete access to the Top Chef pantry to create one dish that showcases their concept for a potential restaurant.
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