Throughout my television-viewing life there have been certain programs that I've obsessed over, planned my schedule around, discussed with my fellow zealots over water cooler and barstool and, in short, made a point to watch without fail, but nowadays there's only one show I can't live without, Top ... More >>
Ambitious, edgy California cuisine flirts with the future in uneven fashion.
A top chef expands his brand, and we follow
Our early responder finds some good things to eat among some chaff at S.F.'s new retail paradise
If you think you recognize the executive chef of Scala's Bistro (432 Powell at Post) wihtout ever having eaten there, it's because Jen Biesty competed on the fourth season of Bravo's Top Chef in 2008, where she cooked meals inspired by penguins and the film Il Postino. SFoodie challenged Biesty to c ... More >>
On last night's premiere of Top Chef Masters, Hubert Keller, executive chef/owner of Fleur de Lys (777 Sutter at Taylor) charmed a gaggle of Girl Scouts and a mess of college students and whipped up the winning meal: Cold Scottish salmon, hardy carrot and petit pea soup with cinnamon croutons, and ... More >>
S.F.'s own Elizabeth Falkner (pictured, second from left, with Wylie Dufresne, Graham Elliot Bowles, and Suzanne Tracht) competed in last night's episode of Bravo's Top Chef Masters. And while she didn't win (that honor went to Tracht), the Orson/Citizen Cake maven's dishes were certainly memora ... More >>
A dog with ketchup and mustard? Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes you crave a bit more refinement than the classic red hot provides. There's a whole of craving going on these days -- gourmet wieners are poised to become a national (even an international) phenom, and that's just fine with u ... More >>
Ash Fulk/Facebook Ash Fulk: Will the Bay Area native prove a local fave? In case you've turned to reading and misanthropy lately, allow us to break the news that Season 6 of Top Chef begins on Bravo tonight (9 p.m., channel 48 on Comcast). It's based in Sin City this time around, so expect pl ... More >>
Bravo TVWe were worried when local girl Preeti Mistry turned to her three colleagues last week during the first Quickfire Challenge of Top Chef Las Vegas -- a mise-en-place battle for which she'd have to open 15 clams before others on her team could move on to other tasks, including trimming ... More >>
Left Coast CateringWickett: Not exactly in love with Vegas.The 38-year-old Rochester, New York, native has an earthy, tousled vibe that makes you think of a Montessori teacher sipping post-pilates soy chais in Cole Valley. When she arrived in S.F. in 1990, Wickett started cooking at long-defu ... More >>
Bravo TVPlanning to launch a taco truck?Watching last night's episode of Top Chef, we were nervous as soon as we saw our two S.F. homegirls --- teamed up for the big feed-the-troops challenge -- preparing pasta salad. With bowties and sundried tomatoes, no less! Oy. Meanwhile, the competition ... More >>
ModelMayhemThe French-born chef isn't without cheesy model shots.An ooh-la-la, scarf-wearing dirty blond, 29-year-old Biarritz native Mattin Noblia is the Frenchy eye candy -- complete with model portfolio -- of Top Chef Season Six. He opened his own restaurant, Iluna Basque, in North Beach, ... More >>
ModelMayhemMaybe he should've stuck with modeling. Or not.S.F.'s own Mattin Noblia, chef-proprietor of Iluna Basque, did not cover himself with glory (or even the tricoleur) in last night's French-themed episode of Top Chef. The escargot Quickfire challenge pleased him: "I feel good," he sa ... More >>
Fulk: He won't be inviting Padma over for snacks.In case you were glued to Glee last night, you missed Ash Fulk getting bounced from Top Chef. Fulk might be the nicest contestant ever. "I was outcooked," he said this morning by phone. And he wouldn't diss anybody on the show -- except for Pad ... More >>
Bravo TVWickett: Not totally bummed about getting axed.Laurine Wickett of San Francisco's Left Coast Catering made it all the way to Episode Nine on Top Chef, last night's infamous Restaurant Wars competition, by pretty much flying below the radar. Things looked tense in Episode Three, when t ... More >>
This will unavoidable this Halloween.Spooky Muni! [Muni Diaries]Trick or Treat! Who wants to live in a candy factory? [Curbed]Absolutely ridiculous photo collection of pets in costume. [SF Gate]Need a last minute costume idea? Go as the entire city of San Francisco. [The Tens]Snarf, Kris Kringle. ... More >>
Feel the burn.Top Chef has evolved from a way popular TV show to a media entity that launches cooks into fame, complete with charity events, books, and appearances. As proof, consider the arrival of the Top Chef Quickfire Cookbook (Chronicle Books, $29.95) and newly released Top Chef Quickfi ... More >>
T. PalmerGood morning, Tom.When the S.F. outpost of Tom Colicchio's 'Wichcraft (868 Mission at Fourth St.) appeared a few years ago, it seemed to generate a pompous air around itself. The Top Chef host splashed out with a huge space on the ground floor of the then-new Westfield Centre, as if Coli ... More >>
