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Top Chef Masters Season 2

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--- Quote from: TexasLady on March 22, 2010, 09:11:49 AM ---I just wonder, will they have to cook in a dorm room again?  :lol:

--- End quote ---

This is going to be telecast on BRAVO, Andy Cohen is almost certainly in ultimate charge and you know Tom Colicchio had a lot to do with the planning of tasks for this show. I am certain that there will be several way-out tasks that will stretch these master chefs to the limit.

TexasLady:
I'm sure! I really do think that was the hardest task they had to do and the chefs came through with flying colors. No kitchen, no stove per say, few utensils and yet they did produce a wonderful meal. Amazing really.

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It's been All Quiet on the Western Front, but I finally have some news on top Chef Master, which premieres tomorrow night at 11pm (not in the time slot starting 10pm like it used to be):

The first episode brings together six of the lesser nationally known master chefs in this competition-
Ana Sortun (Oleana)
Govind Armstrong (8 oz Burger Bar)
Jerry Traunfeld (Poppy)
Jimmy Bradley (The Red Cat)
Susan Feniger (Street)
Tony Mantuano (Spiaggia).

 Love is in the air as the Masters are challenged to evoke their sensual side using known aphrodisiac ingredients in the creation of a sumptuous meal to suit couples on a first date.

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Each of the 6 chefs competing in tonight's telecast has done a video of their restaurant kitchen at http://www.bravotv.com/top-chef-masters/season-2/videos?collection=Bonus+Clips

Here is a summary of that information:
Tony Mantuano, Spiaggia (Italian cuisine, Chicago overlooking Oak Street Beach - temperature controlled wine storage area for the oldest and rarest vintages, cheese storage area also temperature controlled, display of pastas fresh-made that day, the Grill, explanation that any dish can be accompanied by a 5 gram slice of Alba Italy fresh truffles for $85 extra.

Susan Feniger, Street (meaning inspired by street food), Los Angeles - she is hyper throughout this; she appears to be the world's most serious proponent of the rubber band concept as her menus are bound that way; Street has a big menu but a tiny kitchen except for its wood-burning oven; customers waiting at a counter can see through relatively small windows into the kitchen; there is an outside patio with a fireplace and umbrellas to shield the tables there.

Jimmy Bradley, the Red Cat (classic Mediterranean cuisine), Chelsea  - is proud of his bar with Colombian cocktails; the back dining room showcases artists whose work is on the walls; there are 100 seats total; the food stations are salad, appetizers, fish and meat (sounds like a traditional, Gordon Ramsay-approved concept); there is an ice cream machine and a big oven in the basement; the logic Jimmy uses to make decisions is "what would the Pilgrims (1620 vintage) do?" as he values local produce, fish and meat; he apparently holds a John Coltrane Smoking Swine Roast periodically (I guess he likes jazz); he is the mentor of TC1 winner Harold Dieterle.

Jerry Traunfield, Poppy, Capitol Hill neighborhood, Seattle - he turned part of a parking lot into a 600 square foot spice garden, which produces fresh herbs summer and effectively results in dried spices year-round; he focused on the decor including cabinetry, 1960s chairs, walls, mobile and live floral displays


Govind Armstrong, 8oz. Burger Bar, Los Angeles - casual atmosphere featuring burgers, cocktails and microbrews; communal table seats up to 8; outside patios total 16 seats; a custom blend of various beefs is aged for at least 24 hours in a Himalayan salt locker

Anna Sortun, Oleana  (Eastern Mediterranean cuisine), Cambridge - her cuisine uses lots of spices; her focus was on decor, particularly the onyx tables; she led a tour of the grill, sautee station, back prep area and bar

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I recommend a trip to the BRAVO Top Chef Master 2 website as there is a lot of videos there. Each Quickfire win is worth $5K to the designated charity and each Elimination Challenge win is worth $10K for that charity plus the right to be in later rounds. all losers in the 4 preliminary rounds should be eliminated so that it will probably be (although I am not sure) only 4 competing in the final rounds. I deduce this from 22 master chefs competing and 6 in the first round. When you divide through, you get 3 2/3 rounds, so two later preliminary rounds will have 5 chefs only. There may one or two wild-card entrants from an additional round determined by criteria I have no idea of at this time, but stay tuned. The winner of the title of Top Chef Master will bring home $100K to his charity and receieve some personal gifts.

If you dig deeply enough you can find information on to night's premiere episode. the contestants were listed in my post above. Here is what I know:

The Quickfire will be in Los Angeles' Chinatown. the 6 masters each draw a colored apron and those that match are on the same team. This makes it:
Anna and Jerry
Susan and Tony
Govind and Jerry

Some additional info which emerged about selected competitors in tonight's round are:

Anna was a candidate for the 2010 James Bread Foundation Chef award. Jerry was the 2000 James Beard Award winner for Best American Chef: Northwest and Hawaii and went to the semi-finals. Jimmy was Harold Dieterle's (and it you don't know who he is go way back to the Top Chef 1 threads) mentor. Tony was President O'Bama's favorite chef in the Chicago area.

there was a lot of hoopla (for the cameras I expect as nobody could be like this in their own kitchen) on some of these videos:
"we're going to raise the roof."
"the ultimate cooking competition (that actually is probably right but rick Bayless beat them to it with his title of top Chef Master).

the only chef I have seen on TV before is Govind Armstrong, who was both a Guest Judge on Top Chef and a competitor in TCM1. I am going to pick Jerry Traunfield for the win tonight.

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