Top Chef (TV Show)

The Turducken Burger & 5 Other Ridiculous Burgers We'd Like To See Become A Reality

Ever find that it's "simply impossible to settle on one protein to craft a burger?" ...Me neither. But if you have faced that problem, have no fear! Top Chef All-Stars winner Richard Blais and the web channel Tasted have teamed up to solve all of your single-meated-burger problems. The solution " ... More >>

A Place at the Table: A Heart-Hitting Documentary About Hunger in America

"My dream is to be an honor roll student. My other dream is to be on Home Makeover: Home Edition. I just wish they would come and rescue us from our house ... I want my kids to have a better life than I do: have more food, a bigger house with no mold. Get to do what they want to do, and need to do, ... More >>

13 Houston Chefs Who Have Celebrity Doppelgangers

Check out which local chef sure looks a lot like a Spice Girl, who might be hosting a game show in his spare time, and who we think is a long-lost triplet: See also: - 12 Celebrity Chefs Who Have Cartoon Doppelgangers - 13 Celebrity Chef Doppelgangers 13. Kaz Edwards vs. Joshua Jackson We could s ... More >>

Healthy Choice: A Foray Into the Frozen Foods Section

In case you hadn't noticed, some of us here at EOW have been trying to clean up our diets a bit since the holidays. Personally, it's been a struggle as my household has tried to balance travel, illness and the general insanities of everyday life. There are some days that I simply give in, and look f ... More >>

The Taste: Three Chefs And A Baby

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. - H.L. Mencken Greetings, Eating Our Words-ians. My name's Pete and I usually skulk over on Art Attack writing about things that nobody cares about. This includes weekly recaps of random reality shows, so when I decided to wr ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Put That Ugly Christmas Sweater to Good Use

Coming up this Tuesday, December 4, Haven and Cove will be kicking off the Christmas season with a Champagne dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. The three-course dinner created by chef Randy Evans will feature a passed tasting of raw dishes from Cove to start. Courses include duck confit with roasted beets ... More >>

Smitten and Barefoot: Our Top 5 Cookbooks for Christmas

I have a confession to make: I am a cookbook-aholic. I absolutely love reading and collecting cookbooks. Sometimes I like to sit in Barnes & Noble and read through all of the new cookbooks displayed in the food section of the store. I love the pictures, I love the author's story behind each recipe ... More >>

12 Celebrity Chefs Who Have Cartoon Doppelgangers

We've already noted Emeril's uncanny resemblance to Grandpa Munster and determined that Eric Ripert and Mr. Jay may just be twins. Now we'll take a look at the celebrity chefs that have a different kind of doppelganger: Check out our list of 12 Celebrity Chefs Who Look Like Cartoons: 12. Alton Br ... More >>

The 5 Sexiest Celebrity Chefs: Ladies Edition

We've taken a look at the Sexiest Men in the Kitchen (meatballs, anyone?). Now, it's the ladies time to turn up the heat. Check out the Top 5 Hottest Female Chefs: 5. Nadia Giosia As in, "Nadia G." As in, the wild and slightly psychotic Italian but Canadian-born chef, singer, and host of Nadia G' ... More >>

Flaming Young

Ten food-related words you need to stop misspelling

The 5 Sexiest Celebrity Male Chefs

It's getting hot in the kitchen, and not just from the flames. Check out the Top 5 Hottest Celebrity Male Chefs that make our flames broil: 5. Govind Armstrong Armstrong's dreamy locks first made our hearts flutter on shows like Bravo's Top Chef and Top Chef Masters and the Food Network's Iron C ... More >>

The Texas Chefs Hall of Fame: 1981 and Now

Assistant music editor Craig Hlavaty recently purchased a 1981 edition of The Genuine Texas Handbook, a guide to all things Texan. It's an often-tongue-in-cheek look at the people, places, outfits, songs, foods and more that made someone Texan 31 years ago. Incidentally, the book and I are the same ... More >>

Fire in My Belly with Kevin Gillespie

Upcoming Events: A Birthday Barbecue at the Best Block in Houston

This Thursday, June 7, head out to the so-called Best Block in Houston to help celebrate the birthday of a local legend, pitmaster Adam Fisher. From 6 to 10 p.m., the Continental Club will be hosting a birthday extravaganza for Fisher, whose barbecue has been a fixture at the concert venue for a doz ... More >>

Go Way Out to Eat: 5 Favorite Dining Destinations

Food & Wine magazine recently featured a series of articles on culinary destinations, or "...the world's best food pilgrimages," as they put it. While it was indeed interesting, I must say that places like Bangkok, Rome and India are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to food travels. The ... More >>

Anvil's Matt Tanner Wins the 2012 On the Rocks Bartending Contest

I love judging bartending contests. I love watching bartending contests. The showmanship and passion that is on display at these events -- Miss Speed Rack Houston, for example, or the recent Don Q Rum competition (both of which are sending female Houston bartenders to national championships in New Y ... More >>

All-star Sweet & Savory Fundraiser Raises $19,100 for Lucky Dog Rescue

Pastry chef, Top Chef Just Desserts contestant, and hometown girl Rebecca Masson loves dogs. "If I could save them all myself, I would," she said as she thanked all those who had generously donated time and funds for the Lucky Dog Rescue charity. This past Sunday, her Sweet and Savory fundraiser a ... More >>

DVDs & Blu-rays: The Bottom-of-the-Barrel Edition

Nothing could entice us to review Tower Heist or Puss in Boots this week. Good thing, too, because there was so much more to choose from...oh, wait, that's a lie. This week's offerings suck. Let's start with the television series releases. There are those series that stand the test of time, somehow ... More >>

Upcoming Events: Iron Forks, Mudbugs and Beer

Big news first: Our 10th annual 2012 Menu of Menus event is coming up on April 17 from 7 to 10 p.m., and in celebration of its first decade, it'll be like no other Menu of Menus you've ever seen. We will have a line-up of 40 restaurants sampling their best dishes -- including favorites like Radical ... More >>

Top Chef: Texas Is Now Set in Canada, Because Why Not

​This week's episode of Top Chef: Texas has left Texas entirely, never to return (at least for this season). It has, instead, gone to almost literally the polar opposite of Texas: British Columbia, Canada. On Top Chef: Texas. Which was funded with $400,000 of our tax dollars (much more if you coun ... More >>

Chutzpah and Cat Cora on Top Chef: Texas

​I still don't have DVR, but I do now have a refurbed Roku box from Woot, which is nice. I mention this because any single episode of Battlestar Galactica that you can stream from Netflix is a million times better -- no hyperbole here, I really mean a million times better -- than any single episod ... More >>

Charlize Theron and Her Crappy Movie Take Top Chef: Texas Even Further Off the Rails

​Charlize Theron is an actress from South Africa who lives in Los Angeles and is currently filming a shitty-looking Kristen Stewart movie set in England, so naturally she's the best choice for this week's episode of Top Chef: Texas. This show continues to make less and less sense the more it wears ... More >>

The Much-Feared Restaurant Wars Hit Top Chef: Texas

​Now that Work of Art is over, I've had to find another reality show to haphazardly catch before tuning into Bravo on Wednesday nights. That show is Restaurant Impossible, and it's weirdly addictive. I've even found myself seeking it out on purpose, which is something I never do with Food Network ... More >>

Twitter and Tales from Everyone's Childhood on Top Chef: Texas

HERE'S PATTI LABELLE BECAUSE WHY NOT THAT'S WHY.​I left a dinner tonight at Roost earlier than I would have liked -- I really need to stop making dinner plans on Wednesday night, but my job more or less necessitates that I eat out every night -- and will circle back around to this fact shortly. Ne ... More >>

Tim Love and Tequila Take Over Top Chef: Texas

Also known as the episode in which Padma goes full Pocahontas, complete with faux Indian choker I once bought during a family vacation to Tucson in 1993.​Seven episodes in, and I'm sorry to report that none of the challenges thus far have involved the contestants being forced to shoot their ow ... More >>

6 Great Gifts For An Iron Chef Wannabe

As seen in ScienceSlashFoodThe wonders of sous vide cooking​Are you the next Iron Chef? Are you bedding a Master Chef wannabe? Do you or someone you know take cooking very seriously? Here are a few must-haves sure to tickle the fancy of the Iron Chef in, or near, you. 6. Sous vide circulators ... More >>

Half-Off at t'afia: Start Your Holiday Shopping Now

​Do you have friends or family who've never managed to eat at t'afia? Despite chef/owner Monica Pope's well-deserved stint on Top Chef: Masters And the fact that the restaurant helped start the local food movement here in Houston? And despite the fact that it's still one of the city's best res ... More >>

Dallas Makes a Damn Fool of Itself on Top Chef: Texas

​Thoughts: Is it really a "Healthy Choice" when so many of your frozen dinners are laden with preservatives and other chemicals? With that, we're hitting the road to Dallas, better known these days as a "dining nowhereville." Great choice, Bravo! Enjoy that! "When I think of Dallas, I think of t ... More >>

Chiles and Chili: The Most Obvious Episode of Top Chef: Texas Yet

Above is is how I imagine the initial planning meetings for Top Chef: Texas went. I'm also imagining future episodes where the contestants will be forced to shoot their own horses and grill them over a fire of cactus paddles. Let's go, Top Chef: Texas! DO THIS SHIT RIGHT. Until then, we'll have to ... More >>

Of Rattlesnakes and Quinceañeras: Top Chef: Texas

It turns out that wearing orange Crocs does not, in fact, give you Mario Batali's superpowers.​This is the time at which I should point out that I don't have a DVR and in fact only recently got cable (which is awesome and, whoa, so many episodes of House Hunters!). That means that each week at ... More >>

Bloodsport and Oxtopus on Last Night's Top Chef: Texas

I am proud to report that the above photo is now the one of the first search results for "Asian Leghorn."​...aaaaaand we're back! Last week, I drank heavily and recapped the first episode of Top Chef: Texas. Check that recap to familiarize yourself with the dumb names I've made up for nearly e ... More >>

Top Chef: Texas - Let the Games Begin

​I have absolutely no tolerance for reality shows of any kind, and I watch little food television programming aside from Chopped, Alton Brown and the PBS Saturday morning line-up. I do not understand the modern paradigm of chef as rock star. I don't know why food blogging has become so entrenc ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Voracious: Up in Seattle at our sister paper, food critic Hanna Raskin interviews one of the city's four contestants in the upcoming Top Chef: Texas season, and finds that the chef -- Colin Patterson, in case you want to watch for him tonight -- has some pretty asinine ideas about Texas. It really g ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

San Antonio Express-News: The big stink of the week still has to do with Top Chef: Texas, which -- so far -- is shaking out to be one of the worst decisions that Bravo has ever made with its successful franchise. The stinging insult of Houston being left off the list of Texas cities for the upcoming ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs, the Rosh Hashanah Edition

If you're Jewish, happy new year and l'shana tova! If you're not Jewish, you can still enjoy this week's roundup of Rosh Hashanah-themed food blog posts, and perhaps learn a little something new along the way. Voracious: At our sister paper in Seattle, food critic Hanna Raskin asked the Washington ... More >>

Sampler Plate: This Week in Food Blogs

Each week, we put together a sampler plate of the most interesting links from both local and national food blogs. Know a blog we should be paying particular attention to? Leave the address in the comments section below. Talking Tolerance: The fallout continues from the story that we broke yesterday ... More >>

Eater: Top Chef "Texas" Coming to Houston After All?

​Yesterday afternoon, Amber Ambrose broke two interesting pieces of news on Eater regarding Top Chef's current tour through Texas as it films for its next season. "Today, the tipline brings the rumor that after shooting in Dallas (where they are presently) and then Austin, the show will also ... More >>

Chefing Shows Come to Texas

Guess who's not coming to town!​The big food TV news from over the weekend came from San Antonio (of all places), where it was revealed that Top Chef is currently filming. The news broke when a local blogger spotted Gail Simmons and Tom Colicchio in a San Antonio bar, then promptly got into a ... More >>

Top Chef Comes to Houston

​Calling all would-be chefs in the Houston area: Bravo will be holding open casting calls from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Sunday, February 27, at Mark's American Cuisine. The casting will be for both the upcoming season 9 Top Chef and the second series of the spin-off Top Chef Just Desserts. We k ... More >>

Upcoming Events

Eat dinner with Tiffany Derry and Mark Holley at Pesce on December 2.​Attention Top Chef fans! If you were rooting for Texas's own Tiffany Derry this season (even if she lives in Dallas now, you gotta love a girl who came up through IHOP), here's your chance to meet the woman herself, as well ... More >>

Recipe: Kevin Gillespie's Cream-Less Creamed Corn

​Kevin Gillespie is a doughy, bearded, jovial fella that loves himself some pork. I have been described in the same way, but the difference is, Gillespie was in the final three on season 6 of Top Chef (and was robbed, but that is a blog post for another day). The ever-changing menu at his Atla ... More >>

Keeping Cool with Green Wine

​There are three qualifications for drinking in the Houston heat: the beverage in question 1) must be cold 2) must be light 3) must be refreshing. The one wine that meets all three criteria with flying colors is neither white, rosé or red. It's green. Known "officially" as vinho verde, whic ... More >>

Riddle Me This

​This is a tough one ya'll...What has: Ego overload; Awkward, obvious dubbed-over video (at times); Shameless product placements of Toyotas, Whole Foods and now bands like The Bravery; Ridiculous food challenges: using gas station ingredients to cook a gourmet meal; An annoying yet addic ... More >>

Tune In and Turn On

​If you missed Robb Walsh's two-part apperance on The Michael Berry Show back in October, you have another chance to catch our newly un-anonymous food critic this weekend as he appears on Southbound Food on 1560 AM. The radio show -- which is anchored by Sports Animal hosts Lance Zierlein, Da ... More >>

This Week In Deliciousness

MEATSPLOSION!​ Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where we've finally secured the patent on sourdough incense. This week started off with a bang, when Greenway Barista slammed the Luling City Market on Richmond, which is actually unaffiliated with the actual market in ... More >>

No Reservations: Thailand

When Anthony Bourdain and his crew visited Thailand in April, Bangkok was in political upheaval. This week's episode of No Reservations opened with flickering images of soldiers, protesters and smoke, with Bourdain admitting, "I don't know what to say about Thailand. I don't know how to make sense o ... More >>