Top Chef 3

One of Top Chef‘s biggest weaknesses is that viewers can’t really judge what they’re seeing for themselves. We have to trust the judges when they describe the taste of the contestants’ food, unlike on Project Runway, where we can look at a dress and have all of the same information that the judges have when… continue reading

After skipping a reunion for Top Chef 2 because fans were outraged over the show’s interpersonal conflict, Bravo aired a reunion for Top Chef 3 Wednesday night. It should have been the reverse, though, because there wasn’t much drama between the contestants this season, and thus the reunion was yet another one of Bravo’s tedious… continue reading

Wednesday’s live finale of Top Chef 3 was watched by “3.079 million total viewers and 2.187 million adults 18-49,” which left the show “the No. 1 cable entertainment program for the 10 p.m. hour in total viewers and adults 18-49,” according to a Bravo press release, which cites Nielsen numbers. Still, the finale lost 800,000… continue reading

After a 75-minute, partially live finale, Hung Huynh won $100,000 and became the third Top Chef. If Bravo’s unscientific poll during the episode is any indication, that was unpredictable, and maybe even a pretty significant upset; Casey Thompson was by far the most popular chef, followed by Dale Levitski. But while Casey seemed poised to… continue reading

Bravo’s Top Chef 3 concludes tonight with a live finale from Chicago, the setting for the fourth season, which recently started production. Three actually talented chefs remain: Casey Thompson, Dale Levitski, and Hung Huynh. For the first time, the show will have a non-heterosexual male winner (Casey is female, Dale is gay, and Hung is… continue reading

After last week’s uncredited appearance on Top Chef 3 as a bitchy diner in one of the faux restaurants created by the two teams, Madonna’s brother Christopher Ciccone made a credited appearance on last night’s show. The teams had to re-open their restaurants, and the producers had Ciccone essentially design the small spaces. Tom Colicchio… continue reading

Last night’s episode of Top Chef 3 had an uncredited guest appearance by Madonna’s younger brother. Christopher Ciccone was the diner in the “Garage” teams’ restaurant who made bitchy comments, Towleroad noticed. The site suggests he “should appear as a judge on every episode, because, like Simon Cowell, Ciccone does not mince his words when… continue reading

Head Top Chef 3 judge Tom Colicchio says that the show’s guest judges are not compensated for their time or potential suffering through bad food. In an interview with TV Guide, he said that Anthony Bourdain is a fan of the show, and “That’s why he comes back. [Laughs] They don’t pay the guest judges,… continue reading

The Wednesday debut of Top Chef 3 was watched by 2.024 million viewers, an increase of eight percent over last season’s debut, according to Bravo. There were 1.407 million viewers ages 18 to 49, a five percent increase. Those numbers made it “the No. 1-rated food show on cable television across all demographics,” and to… continue reading

Bravo gets us ready for Top Chef‘s third season tonight with a special titled “4-Star All-Stars,” a competition between chefs from the first two seasons. It begins at 10 p.m. ET. The three people who hazed Marcel, including that asshat who won last season, join Marcel to face off against season one’s winner Harold, along… continue reading

Bravo is partnering with its sibling station Telemundo (both are owned by NBC Universal) to promote Top Chef 3 to Latino viewers. Why are they doing this? Apparently because the third season is set in Miami, and as any overgeneralizing person knows, Miami equals Latinos. If NBC Universal owned Logo, would Bravo have done this… continue reading

The third season of Bravo’s Top Chef will begin with an all-star competition between contestants from the previous two seasons. The network announced today that Harold Dieterle, Stephen Asprinio, Tiffani Faison, and Dave Martin will face off against Ilan Hall, Sam Talbot, Elia Aboumrad, and Marcel Vigneron. With the exception of Stephen, that’s each show’s… continue reading

Bravo revealed today that Top Chef 3 will air this summer and be set in Miami Beach. The new location is the show’s third (it moved to LA for last season), but its second-season host, Padma Lakshmi, returns again. So do Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons, while Queer Eye‘s Ted Allen will join as a… continue reading