Top Chef Texas Premieres Tonight On Bravo TV 9/8C

Tom & Padma in Top Chef Texas

Seconds ago I saw this ad on my Durango TV Blog. I then checked to make sure what the ad was telling me was correct.

It was.

Tonight Top Chef Texas has its premiere on Bravo at 10/9C.

Top Chef Texas takes place in Austin, San Antonio and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

I was at the Fort Worth Stockyards a week ago today. As I was sitting on a bench beside the main street that runs through the Stockyards I saw a beautiful brunette in cowboy boots and a short skirt walking towards me with a group of less beautiful sorts. From a block away I thought it was Padma Lakshmi. I was soon to be disappointed that it was not Padma.

Celebrity Chef, Tim Love, who has been on Top Chef and Top Chef Masters, has two restaurants in the Fort Worth Stockyards, the Love Shack and the Lonesome Dove Bistro. I suspect Tim Love will show up on Top Chef Texas.

Former Top Chef cheftestant, Casey Thompson, was associated with a restaurant in Fort Worth, the Brownstone, but she was rarely there and has now moved on to a new restaurant in California's wine country.

Tre Wilcox, who was on both Top Chef and Top Chef All-Stars, has a restaurant in Dallas. I believe Tre ceased being Executive Chef at Loft to open his own restaurant, named, I think, Marquee Grill.

Defunct Restaurant Go Fish Boat Club's Website

Fan favorite, Tiffany Deery was Executive Chef at Go Fish Ocean Club in Dallas. However, according to Dallas News "DRG Concepts has closed Go Fish Ocean Club , the North Dallas restaurant where "Top Chef" star Tiffany Derry ruled the stoves."

I thought I remembered reading that Tiffany had moved on, but not that her restaurant had closed.

Go Fish Boat Club still has a website up and running, on which they feature Tiffany Deery. Maybe with the recovering economy the restaurant re-opened and re-hired Tiffany.

I must remember to make sure my DVR is set to record Top Chef Texas.

Top Chef All-Stars: No Final Four--All Five Remaining in Finals in the Bahamas

This week's episode of Top Chef was my favorite Top Chef episode ever.

It started with the five remaining chefs, Antonia Lofaso, Mike Isabella, Carla Hall, Richard Blais and Tiffany Derry being surprised to have Padma show up in their loft.

Padma directed the chefs to the roof where she pointed out Ellis Island and told them she'd be meeting them there.

Onboard the ferry to Ellis Island the chefs discover a note telling them that when the boat whistle blows they have til it blows again to make a dish from the limited supplies in the boat's pantry.

The whistle blew and much mayhem ensued as the chefs tried to make something tasty out of items like tortilla chips, hot dogs, cheese, buns and oranges.

In the end, when the whistle blew after docking on Ellis Island, Padma and guest judge, Dan Barber, came onboard to taste the food. After tasting it, it was decided that Carla's orange concoction tasted best.

Then it was on to the Elimination Challenge.

The chefs were told that a famous genealogist had been researching their family histories. And that some special people were arriving to help the chefs sort it out.

At that Antonia's mom, Mike's mom, Carla's husband, Richard's wife and Tiffany's mom walked in.

With their family member the chef's went through the info trying to figure out their heritage and what food to cook to honor that heritage.

It was around this point that the impossible happened. Mike Isabella began to turn likable. He'd not seen his mom for 6 months. We heard the story of Mike's Italian grandma teaching him to cook. And how ever since she died he could never bring himself to cook Italian dishes that she had taught him. Which was the dish he decided to cook for the challenge.

And then Antonia, looking through her history, made the shocking discovery that her arch nemesis, and she, were cousins. With that nemesis being Mike Isabella. It was darn charming watching Antonia and Mike's relationship change after they learned they were cousins. With Mike now rooting for his new cousin to make it to the finals.

Then it was off to Whole Foods to shop. Then 3 hours to cook.

The family members joined Padma, Tom, Gail and Dan Barber for the feeding.

As the dishes rolled out, one by one, nary a negative word was spoken. Tom and Gail and Padma asked questions of the relatives about the chefs. From that we learned Carla met her husband on Match.com.

After all the chefs had rolled out their food, and Tom remarked that it was all good, wondering how they could make the choice of a winner and who to send home, I think it was Antonia's mom who suggested sending all 5 to the finals.

Back in the Stew Room the chefs waited their fate. Padma summoned them all. Each talked about their inspiration. Again Mike Isabella was likable. None of that blowhard blustering he usually does. There may have been tears.

After some discussion Antonia got the win and the guaranteed spot in the Final 4. And a brand new 2011 Toyota Highlander Hybrid.

Then Mike was told he was in and he could head to the Stew Room. Arriving there the two new cousins celebrated.

Richard was getting nervous. And might I add, his wife is very good-looking and was 5 months along with their 2nd kid. Padma then said to the very nervous Richard, "Please pack your knives." Long pause. "And take them to the Bahamas. You're in. You can return to the Stew Room." Richard looked as if he was about to explode and then he turned very relieved.

Go to break. After the commercials, Padma says Carla's name. Long wait, waiting for the pack your knives and go home message. Then Padma says Tiffany's name. Another long wait. And then, "You're both going to the Bahamas!"

Tom said they could not come to a decision because everyone had done so well.

I love it when I watch a Reality TV Show and I find myself changing my mind about someone. Previously I thought it would be travesty if Mike Isabella went to the finals after chefs like Angelo and Dale were sent packing. And I thought if Isabella turned out to be the winner of Top Chef All-Stars that this would be a bigger joke than when the repugnant non-All-Star, Mike "Boogie" Malin, won Big Brother All-Stars.

Now, I'm okay if Mike Isabella wins. It won't be a travesty. But, I want Carla or Antonia to win. I like both a lot.

Top Chef's Padma Lakshmi's Scandalous Baby Custody Battle With Adam Dell

I remember being surprised when Padma Lakshmi got off a train at the finale of the Top Chef season in which Michael Voltaggio won Top Chef to see that Padma was hugely pregnant.

This sparked a lot of Internet speculation as to who Padma's Baby Daddy was. I remember one unlikely Baby Daddy rumor had him being Tom Colicchio.

Eventually it became known that the Baby Daddy of Krishna Thea was venture capitalist, Adam Dell, he being the brother of Dell Computer billionaire, Michael Dell.

Well.

According to records straight out of Manhattan Supreme Court, Padma refused to put Dell's name on her daughter's birth certificate. Adam Dell is suing for full custody, claiming, in court, that Padma has limited his time with his almost one year old daughter to only 7 hours a week.

Now why would Padma treat the father of her baby this way?

Well.

According to what Dell had to tell the court, Padma had told him that she had been sexually active with a billionaire named Teddy Forstmann at the same time she was busy baby-making with Dell. And that Padma "made clear . . . her hope that Forstmann was the child's biological father."

In the picture above, that is Adam Dell on the right, he being the young looking guy. The guy below, walking with Padma, is what looks to be a much older guy, Teddy Forstmann.

When one looks at those with whom Padma chooses to have her assignations, one must remember this was a woman who was married to Salman Rushdie.

He being the guy who's 4th novel, The Satanic Verses, upset Muslims in several Muslim countries, with death threats, including a 'fatwa' against Rushdie courtesy of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who died in 1989, while Salman Rushdie continues to live.

Without Padma.

Top Chef D.C.: Kelly Packs Her Knives & Goes From Singapore

Ed may a self-described douchebag, at least regarding how he treats Angelo, but he is one big douchebag on a roll, winning both the Quickfire and Elimination Challenges. Again.

After their arrival in Singapore, Kelly, Ed, Angelo and Kevin eventually met up with Tom Colicchio and some famous Singapore foodie who's name I could not possibly be expected to remember. The Singaporean took the chefs on a tour of Singapore street food.

And then they came to Padma, at the end of a long day of flying and eating. Padma gave the four 30 minutes to cook their version of Singapore street food. This was a super high states Quickfire. No money, but for the first time in Top Chef Final Four history, the Quickfire winner got immunity from elimination.

Everyone assumed Asian oriented Angelo would have this nailed. But, Ed beat Angelo. Again.

For the Elimination Challenge the 4 had to work as a team to feed 80 people at some event held by some well-know lady in the food business. Again, I don't remember the name. But, I'm sure she is famous.

The dinner was to be done restaurant style, as in waiters took orders and the chefs cooked the orders as they came in.

The night before the four decided to each do one dish. The next day Ed told the camera that he was making a 2nd dish. Then Colicchio arrived, all appalled the chefs were only doing one dish each, with Ed chiming in that he was already doing 2. So, now the other 3 had to whip out a 2nd dish.

There was an awful lot of unseemly sweating going on with all that pressure, particularly from Ed, who really had now pressure, because he had immunity.

The chefs worked real well together in the kitchen, there were some communication problems with the order takers and food deliverers. But other than that it was a way smoother dinner service than you ever see on Hell's Kitchen.

In the end Ed came out the winner, again, at Judges' Table.

Back in the stew room Angelo was sure he was out, due to comments made about his soup. Then the 3 were back at the firing line. Angelo lost his composure, so sad, due to being so sure, he was out. Then Kelly got the boot which really got Angelo sobbing. Angelo did not, til then, seem like a sobbing type of guy to me. Just like his food, he has layers of complexity that make him interesting. And just a tad weird.

Then the 3 finalists, Kevin, Ed and Angelo relaxed for a second before Padma shows up to tell them there is one more thing, and they need to see them back at Judges' Table.

From the previews I'm guessing what Padma has to tell them is that they have a group of former Top Chef chefs to choose from as helpers, like a heavily tattooed Voltaggio brother.

Top Chef D.C.: Tiffany Leaves While Angelo, Kevin, Ed & Kelly Go To Singapore

I was disappointed to see Tiffany go down in flames last night on Top Chef.

This week's Elimination Challenge was to prepare a freeze driable dish for the International Space Station.

The Chefs were introduced to the challenge by two astronauts on the Space Station. And one of those, for whom they were cooking, was Apollo 11 moon walker, Buzz Aldrin.

Tiffany ran into some woes with the mussels part of her dish. That may have been her downfall. But in the end, the judges had high praise for all 5, but, with at least one judge having some issue with at least one aspect of each dish. Particularly that very picky Frenchman, Eric Rippert, who was nicely counter-balanced, this episode, by the always amusing Anthony Bourdain.

Angelo won the high stakes Quickfire with his successful wine/food pairing. He won $10,000.

Each episode we seem to learn something new about Angelo. Weeks ago some were surprised to learn he had reproduced. Then there was the revelation of some of his rituals, like Angelo's shrine to chefs he worships. Last week we learned about Angelo's Russian mail order bride to be. And this week we learned that that child we learned about weeks ago was produced during Angelo's marriage to the kid's mother. They divorced because the wife's family had no respect for the chef profession, wanting Angelo to be a doctor or lawyer.

Angelo seems to be doing fairly well for himself. At least this week on Top Chef. He recovered from the fumbles of the past couple weeks and won the Elimination Challenge, which gave him a new Toyota Avalon, a trip to London, a trip to Cape Canaveral to watch a Space Shuttle launch. And a book by Anthony Bourdain.

For the finale Top Chef is leaving the United States for the first time, heading to one of my favorite places, Singapore. The previews showed Padma taking extreme umbrage against something Kevin said or did. That should be interesting.

So, it is a final four of Angelo, Kevin, Ed and Kelly. Why does Kelly smoke? Why would any chef smoke? I don't get it. Angelo or Ed for the win. I'd be saying Tiffany for the win. But she's gone.

Top Chef D.C.: Baby Food Quickfire Hilton Hotel Double Elimination

You are looking at last week's Elimination Challenge winner, Arnold Myint and cooking teacher, Lynne Gigliotti. This week both were told to pack their knives and go.

This was a different sort of Top Chef episode. It confused me.

It started with a baby food Quickfire Challenge where the chefs had to make something that pleased Baby Daddy Tom Colicchio and new Baby Mama Padma Lakshmi as adult type food, and also have a baby pureed version that makes baby happy.

It was a high stakes Quickfire, with 2 winners, with Tom and Padma each picking one. With the winners getting no immunity. Instead getting $10,000. I don't remember who won. I do remember Alex Rezink saying if he won he'd spend the money on a hooker and an eight ball.

I understood the hooker part.

For the Elimination Challenge the chefs had to pair up, as in get someone to agree to co-cook with you. And then prepare a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu for Hilton Hotels, something healthy, easy to prepare, easy to transport. And tasty.

Now, here is where it gets weird. First up is breakfast. If you are the judges' favorites you are safe from elimination. If not, you continue on to cook lunch.

In addition to the regular judges we had returned cheftestants like the older Voltaggio brother, Bryan and that annoying Mike Isabella guy. Plus the sometimes amusing Spike from a previous season.

So, some were safe, the rest moved on to cook lunch. After lunch it was down to three pairs. Arnold and Lynne, Kevin and Kenny, plus Kelly and Andrea.

Dinner gets served. The judges eat. After that is where it got weird.

Now, did I miss something or was it not true that the worst chefs ended up cooking dinner? With the good chefs made safe from elimination?

So, Padma called the three dinner cooking pairs to the Judges' Table. A little discussion and then it's announced that Kelly Liken and Andrea Curto-Randazzo win.

Huh? What about all those who successfully cooked breakfast and lunch?

And then it got even weirder. Kelly and Andrea won very nice vacations for two. One to Italy, the other to Spain. Or was it Portugal?

Then after more discussion it was decided that Arnold and Lynne were the ones who needed to go.

Lynne was a first rate ass. Hard to believe she can go back to teaching chefs now. She was totally arrogant about her noodle cooking, Arnold wanted to get them boiling. Lynne insisted she was the world's noodle expert. In the end it was her undercooked noodles that did them in.

Or so it seemed.

Am I the only viewer perplexed by how a winner was picked on this episode?

Adam Dell Father Of Padma Lakshmi's Baby

At the finale of the latest season of Top Chef, that being Top Chef: Las Vegas, it was apparent, as soon as Padma Lakshmi stepped off a Napa Valley train, that she was well along in making a baby.

The news of Padma's incoming baby had been widely circulated, but not confirmed, for me, til I saw her baby hump on my TV screen.

There was a lot of speculation as to who Padma's Baby Daddy might be. I even read speculation, somewhere, that the Baby Daddy was Padma's co-host, Tom Colicchio.

Well, apparently it is not Tom.

The reported Padma Baby Daddy is the younger brother of Texan, Michael Dell, you know, the computer making billionaire. Dell has a 40 year old younger brother named Adam.

Adam Dell is also a tech savvy guy, but not a billionaire. He is a venture capitalist, who when he is not venturing capital, teaches at Columbia Business School.

Apparently Adam and Padma have been quite friendly for a couple years.

Padma has known for years that she has endometriosis, a condition that makes it difficult to become pregnant. Her doctor is reported to have said her pregnancy is"nothing short of a miracle."

I couldn't help but be curious to see what the father of Padma's baby looks like, thinking that depending on the mate, this could be one good-looking kid.

Well, that's Adam Dell. What you think? I'm thinking this guy is a better match for Padma than her ex-husband, Salman Rushdie.

Top Chef's Padma To Be A Ma, But Who's Pa

Top Chef's sultry hostess, Padma Lakshmi used to be married to, despised by the Iranians, novelist, Salman Rushdie. That pairing seemed very odd to me. They divorced in 2007.

According to Padma's spokesman Padma is pregnant and the pregnancy is a medical miracle due to Padma having endometriosis, that being a condition where the lining of the uterus grows into other areas of the body, usually causing infertility.

There is no word as to who Padma's Baby Daddy is. I am fairly certain we can rule out Tom Colicchio.

In addition to Top Chef, Padma is also an author, a model, a jewelry designer and is developing a sit-com for NBC, along with developing a baby.

Padma is one of my favorite TV personalities. I hope this baby deal works out well for her.