Tag Archives: Top Chef

Reality TV roundup: Dallas playas and the gaying of ‘So You Think You Can Dance’

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Two gay North Texans on original summer programming reality shows are continuing to thrive.

Lewisville’s Ben Starr and  Dallas’ Leslie Ezelle have been standouts on their respective series — Starr on Fox’s MasterChef and Ezelle on HGTV’s Design Star.  Starr was a top-three finisher in this week’s episode on Tuesday, while Ezelle made a strong impression Week 1 of Design Star and has never been in the bottom of the pack since. (Another Dallasite, local chef Carrie, has been most known as the object of hatred among her team on Fox’s Hell’s Kitchen.)

The rest of the summer’s reality life will continue to gay it up: Local pastry chef  Lina Biancamano, who works in the kitchen at Stephan Pyles, is a contestant on Top Chef: Just Desserts starting next month, and the series Most Eligible: Dallas debuts in three weeks on Bravo. And tonight on Lifetime, the new season of Project Runway premieres.

But what has really interested me this summer on reality TV has been the rotating guest judges on So You Think You Can Dance. A few seasons back, senior judge and exec producer Nigel Lythgoe took it on the chin for making comments perceived as homophobic — an odd claim, considering that SYTYCD has among the gayest (though least out) cast of contestants on reality TV (as well as many gays behind the scenes.)

Maybe that controversy led to Lythgoe intentionally gaying up the lineup this season. Starting with the mass auditions, guest judges this season have been gay choreographers Adam Shankman and Jason Gilkison. Then during the live elimination weeks, the first round of judges included gay faves Megan Mullally, Kristin Chenoweth and Debbie Reynolds, then in the past three weeks the 1-2-3-4 punch of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Neil Patrick Harris (pictured), Rob Marshall and Lady Gaga. All have made pretty out-there comments for the family-friendly show. “Do you have a boyfriend?” Ferguson asked one of the female dancers. “So do I,” he said. Harris joked that one girl was so good even he was attracted to her, and last night Gaga joked that she “loves a queen” … and she wasn’t talking about Elizabeth II.  Can’t wait to see who’s up next to judge.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

What’s gay about this year’s Emmy noms

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The Emmy nominations came out this morning, and there are, as usual, lots of gays in the mix.

The most obvious is the continued domination of Modern Family in the comedy category. Last year’s winner for best comedy series was nominated again for that, as well as the entire adult cast (pictured) in supporting categories, including out actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays half of a gay couple with straight actor Eric Stonestreet. Also up for best comedy series at the very gay (or gay-friendly) Glee (from gay creator Ryan Murphy), The Office, The Big Bang Theory, Parks and Recreation and 30 Rock. The Modern Family men will be up against Chris Colfer, so touching as Kurt, on Glee. Big Bang‘s out actor Jim Parsons competes with his castmate Johnny Galecki and prior winner Alec Baldwin of 30 Rock.

Last year’s winner for supporting actress in a comedy, out actress Jane Lynch from Glee, is nominated again, alongside Modern Family’s Sofia Vergara and Julie Bowen, Jane Krakowski (30 Rock), Betty White (Hot in Cleveland) and Kristen Wiig (SNL). Archie Panjabi, who won supporting actress in a drama last year for The Good Wife playing a bisexual lawyer, is also up again, going against Christina Hendricks from Mad Men.

There were big nominations for Emmy (and gay) favorites Mad Men and Dexter, and some real love for the Texas-filmed series Friday Night Lights, which finishes its series run tomorrow on NBC. The cult hit The Killing got several nominations, but best drama series was not among them.

Kathy Griffin’s My Life on the D List was nominated for reality series, with gay hits American Idol, Top Chef, Project Runway, So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars are up for reality competition. Gay-ish comedy shows The Colbert Report and The Daily Show are frontrunners for variety/comedy series.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Tube review: ‘Rocco’s Dinner Party’

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For the most part, there are two kinds of TV cooking shows: Those that teach you techniques — the ones that are all about entertaining and fun with food — and competition shows, where chefs demonstrate their skills in the hopes of winning something (money, a job, bragging rights). Rocco’s Dinner Party, which debuts tonight on Bravo, splits the difference.

The premise — three promising chefs compete to put on a dinner party for Rocco’s guests (including, in the first episode, gay actor Bryan Batt from Mad Men), and the one who presents the best meal, including the decor and style, gets $20,000, with the first of the three eliminated after the first challenge — combines Chopped, Top Chef and Top Design with Martha Stewart Living.

It’s not a wholly successful mashup. The host, Rocco DiSpirito, has been better known for the last decade as a celebrity than as a cook, with reality shows like The Restaurant, as well as for writing cookbooks. He seems more interested in bullying the contestants and demonstrating his own superior knowledge about cooking than actually teaching (or learning) anything. He’s such an annoying smartypants (frankly, he has been every time I’ve seen him on TV), you kinda want his dinner party to fail. And the now-annoying habit of waiting until the challenge is half-way over before the show throws a wrench into the plans (surprise! your guests have dietary restrictions we didn’t tell you about before you went shopping!) has infected the entire genre with its false drama and predictability.

As the Bravo style of shows go, there are far worse out there, and if Rocco tones down his snippiness (who would want to attend a dinner party with him?) it could grow on me. Until then, I’ll stick to take-out.

 

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Spoiler alert! Gay chef exits ‘Top Chef Masters’

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Suvir Saran

One of the out chefs on the current season of Top Chef Masters was told to pack his knives last night.

The series, which pits established and celebrity chefs against one another in cooking competitions to raise money for charity, is near the start of its second season on Bravo.

Suvir Saran, an Indian chef who is a practicing vegetarian, was booted from the show for cooking a tasteless vegan burger with a low calorie count for a weight-loss challenge. Saran has stayed true to his no-kill principles since the season began, refusing to even use bugs in a weird challenge last week. He has, however, cooked meat this season which had already been butchered, although his default has been to find vegan alternatives for carnivorous dishes.

Last night, he lectured the diners, including the panel of food critics that included gay judge James Oseland, about how red meat was responsible for obesity and why his substitute was healthier. Perhaps, but it ended up being flavorless and not juicy enough for the diners.

Saran owns a farm in Upstate New York with his partner, Charlie.  He raised about $8,000 for his charity before being let go.

Lesbian Tracy Des Jardins fared better for our tribe, winning her second “quickfire” challenge of the season.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

And then there was one: ‘Top Chef’ recap

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Tre Wilcox

OK, gay Dallas foodies — our heroes are falling fast. Last night on Top Chef: All-Stars, Dallas chef Tre Wilcox was told to pack his knives and go after preparing an al dente, mushy risotto in an Italian cuisine challenge. (By the way, Tre, they were right: Risotto needs to cascade like creamy polenta, not plop like over-cooked grits.) That means there are no gays and only one Texan — last season’s fan favorite Tiffany Derry — remaining in the mix. And I have a feeling about her …

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

‘Top Chef’ recap: Bad day for the gays

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Jamie, left, and Tiffany, center, went home last night

The last two weeks have been rough on gay North Texas fans of Top Chef: All-Stars. First, last week Fort Worth chef Casey Thompson (founder of Brownstone) fell following a dim sum challenge; then last night, the two remaining out chefs — Tiffani and Jamie — were kicked off during a double-elimination challenge involving, ironically enough, fish. (Sorry ’bout that.)

On the upside, cutie Fabio and Dallas chefs Tre Wilcox (looking especially buff in a tanktop while fishing) and Tiffany Derry are still in the running. We’ll take what we can get,

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

‘Top Chef’ recap (spoiler alert!)

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Last night on the second episode of Top Chef All-Stars, Jen Carroll — the prickly, Asberger-like chef with the abrasive personality and the poor attitude — was kicked off, as much for her inability to acknowledge the weaknesses in her dish as for her flavorless eggs.

What seemed significant in her being kicked off to me was how local and gay chefs all dodged a bullet. There were eight chefs on Team T-Rex: Three who are queer, and three from Dallas. So, only Jen and Antonia could have gone without causing a minor stink in my office.

Still, it was a whew! moment for local Tre Wilcox, who was tagged for over-salting his sauce and Tiffany Derry (of the recently shuttered Go Fish) for inconsistency in her frittatas.

Ultimately, though, it was the right decision to axe Jen — not really because she sassed the judges (as Tom Colicchio said, being the nicest chef won’t sway them if the food is bad), but because her arrogance combined with ignorance about her own abilities made her, to me, someone not deserving of “top” titles.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Tom Colicchio returns to the kitchen at Craft Dallas on Monday night

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A few months ago, I interviewed bearish TV chef (and recent Emmy winner) Tom Colicchio, who was in town for the third anniversary of Craft, the restaurant chain he co-founded. It was a rare appearance here for Colicchio, who doesn’t make it back to Dallas often enough.

Well, not so rare now. For the second time in three months, he’s back, cooking alongside the Dallas team (which he touted as one of the best with his brand) for dinner Monday night and Tuesday. True, he didn’t make it here in time for Dallas Pride, but we’re still hoping he keeps his pledge to ride on a bear float in L.A. Pride next year. It’s the least he can do for Dallas after purloining our Craft’s pastry chef, Shannon Swindle, for his L.A. shop.

For reservations, call 214-397-4111.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

‘Top Chef’ going gay and Texan in December

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On last night’s reunion episode of “Top Chef: D.C.,” Bravo revealed that the next season will feature “all-stars” from each of the seasons past, and not only are several of them gay, some are from right here.

Among those in the eighth season (and first all-star), set to begin airing Dec. 1, are first-season runner-up Tiffani Faison, right, fifth season’s Jaime Lauren, both lesbians, and third season runner-up Dale Levitski, center, who lost to bisexual chef Hung Huynh.

Levitski bested third-placer Casey Thompson, left, who at the time was at Shinsei but now has her own restaurant, Brownstone, in Fort Worth. Thompson will also be on the all-star season, as will fellow third-season alum Tre Wilcox (formerly of Abacus) and the immediate past season’s Tiffany Derry of Go Fish near the Galleria. That’s a lot of Texas — and a lot of gay — to keep us entertained.

Of course, until then, the new installment of “Top Chef: Just Desserts” has plenty of gay guys and even Morgan Wilson of the Dallas Ritz-Carlton. Bon appetit.

—  Arnold Wayne Jones

Crafty fellow: ‘Top Chef’ co-host hits Dallas

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Craft chef and reality star Tom Colicchio makes a rare Dallas visit — and toys with his bear fans

ARNOLD WAYNE JONES  | Life+Style Editor jones@dallasvoice.com

‘Top Chef’ judge Tom Colicchio
BEAR BAIT | Just the presence of ‘Top Chef’ judge Tom Colicchio in town sent local reservations at Craft soaring, but he says Dallas’ kitchen is the best at staying true to his vision of simple but exceptional food. (Arnold Wayne Jones/Dallas Voice)

Lots of great chefs get their first culinary experience in inauspicious settings. Stephan Pyles trained at his family’s West Texas truck stop. Rick Bayless learned in an Oklahoma barbecue joint.

For Tom Colicchio, it a snack bar in Elizabeth, N.J.

“My parents belonged to a swim club,” he says from the cushiony bar in the lobby of the W Victory Hotel Downtown. “I got to go to work in shorts, no shoes, no shirt. It was the best job I ever had.” He eventually moved up to Burger King.

And then finally, he became Tom Colicchio. Which makes him possibly America’s most famous chef.

He knows why, of course: Television. Colicchio is the co-host and senior judge on Top Chef, the hit Bravo reality competition series that puts lesser-known cooks through the paces to discover the best young chef in the country. He’s also the creator of Top Chef Masters, which pits Colicchio’s friends and colleagues against each other for charity … and bragging rights.

“I was very hesitant to do TV. I said no three times before I said yes. But I think we are making quality television.”

Still, while TV has brought him (more) fame and (more) money, it’s not something he’d necessarily want on his gravestone.

“I spend maybe 20 days a season working on the show,” he says, slightly flustered. “And I don’t do the Top Chef tours. No one ever prints that.”
But neither can he ignore that the recognition associated with celebrity has brought him sincere if unusual attention. Short, shaved-headed and stockily built, Colicchio has been a sex object to gay men, especially in the bear community, almost since the show first aired. It’s a role the straight chef accepts with humor and grace.

“I was on Andy Cohen’s show on Bravo [Watch What Happens, which films in Los Angeles] and said I was mad at the bear community:  The gay Pride parade was going on, and no one had asked me to be on a float,” he says. The show was soon flooded with calls, including the editor of Bear’s Life magazine. The end result? Colicchio is already booked to ride on a bear float in next year’s L.A. Pride parade.

It was just over seven years ago that Colicchio sold Gramercy Tavern, his acclaimed New York bistro, and started a new concept — Craft, which uses as much local, sustainable and organic small-production food as possible in simple yet flavorful preparations. Its success — there are now eight in the chain — brought him his second wave of fame; TV just added to it.

Colicchio was in Dallas (coincidentally) on the third anniversary of the opening of Craft Dallas inside the W, cooking alongside his on-site exec chef, Jeff Harris. It’s a rare experience for him, but one he relishes.

“All my chefs know that 50 percent of their job is quality control — getting best ingredients,” he says. And the Dallas branch is as good as any in his fleet at staying true to the concept.

“The biggest challenge is getting the chefs to keep it simple — they always want to push it. And I’m always saying, ‘Pull it back! Pull it back!’ Jeff is good at that.”

It’s not always easy keeping things in check. Colicchio is dedicated to sourcing his food from smaller, family-owned farms, though he balks at insisting on the term “local.” “If you’re truly local, you wouldn’t have any lemons or tea,” he says. “How far do you take it?” But it’s his resistance to go for corporate farming is what keeps prices high at his restaurant.

“The food we use is expensive — I’m not charging to rip people off. That’s the real price of food,” he says, when it’s not subsidized.

Organic, farm fresh food is a passion for him. And that’s a long way from flipping burgers poolside.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition July 9, 2010.

—  Michael Stephens