As told to Archana Ram.

The Elimination challenge was brutal. In a lot of ways, even at its strangest and most gimmicky, Top Chef mimics the real world in the sense that, when you run a restaurant, on a Saturday night, you don’t know who your customers are going to be and what’s going to go wrong. You might have to improvise. It was certainly a tough challenge. Plus it was 3 in the morning. The exhaustion factor with these guys was big.

I don’t know whether making soup was a strategy, but the chefs were desperate. They were in a limited situation. They were insecure with their environment, unfamiliar with the tools. They really had to wing it. I think they were playing it safe with soup. But I think the fact that a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup won tells you something. That was obviously a smart way to go. That wasn’t the time to start doing really complex food. Overcomplicating and overreaching is often a lethal strategy. I would’ve played it safe and tried to do the best I could to not go home. I wouldn’t have made this as my day to go home with the big money. But I never would’ve made it to the finals of Top Chef on my culinary skills alone. I was a journeyman chef of middling ability. Generally speaking the chefs on the show, most of them are better cooks than I am, though maybe not as experienced or as well or widely eaten. READ FULL STORY »

As told to Archana Ram.

All of the fondues from last night’s Quickfire actually sounded pretty good. I thought that they were all creative. Obviously, in the time they had, some are always going to be better than others. I always think it’s smart when you can take flavors that people are comfortable with or nostalgic about and introduce them in a new way. The truth is, in food there are generally very few things that haven’t been done before. What Richard did was what he’s always trying to do is, which is to take flavors, a dish or a style we know, and reinvent it in a way we haven’t seen before. He’s not going to invent a new flavor, but he can certainly present it in a way that surprises you and that’s really cool.

Jimmy Fallon is a fan of the show, and so is his family. For a while now, he’s expressed his appreciation of the show, and we always said we should get Jimmy on. Working with him on the Elimination was natural. We wanted this season to be about special New York experiences, and 30 Rock is such an iconic place. The history of late night talk shows out of 30 Rock — Johnny Carson, Conan — it just felt right to have the next generation with our All-Stars. We had a blast with them. It really was his birthday that week so the producers devised a challenge that would get the chefs into his studios, live in front of the audience and then have them cook things for his family. He got all of his family to pick their favorite dishes, and they loaded them onto the screen. READ FULL STORY »