Inside the Unprecedented Effort to Film Top Chef Through COVID, Protests and Wildfires (EXCLUSIVE)
Kate Aurthur, provided by
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The “Top Chef” Quickfire Challenge was about to start filming, and Padma Lakshmi the Bravo show’s longtime host, judge and executive producer was being fussed over by people wearing masks and face shields.
“This is a lot of copy to get through,” said Lakshmi, who would soon have to describe a complicated “Black Box” challenge one imported from “Top Chef: France” to the show’s five remaining contestants on this Sunday afternoon in mid-October. In the Quickfire, the cheftestants (to use the “Top Chef” fans’ term of art) would enter a lightless box one at a time for five minutes to try to replicate a dish before them in the pitch black. With a night-vision camera, viewers will see the chefs tasting, smelling and feeling the food in order to figure out its ingredients, and how it was cooked. The dish was
Updated on January 18, 2021 at 12:55 pm
On this episode of our
Scene in San Diego podcast, we talk about the newest project to hit San Diego’s hotel dining scene: Ember & Rye, a restaurant by “Top Chef” alum Richard Blais, at Park Hyatt Aviara in Carlsbad.
Blais joins the conversation to talk about why the new restaurant is making him so nervous and how he’s prepping for the project. The Crack Shack and Juniper & Ivy alum always has a lot of eyes on him and, at the end of the day, he just wants to make good food and “make people happy.”
Eater San Diego: Richard Blais Carlsbad Project, Plus New Sushi, Italian Food & Dessert A round-up, via Eater San Diego, of this week s top stories in San Diego s food and drink scene By Candice Woo, Edited by Monica Garske •
Published January 22, 2021 •
Updated on January 22, 2021 at 10:55 am
Courtesy of C&R Communications
Despite the ongoing pandemic and restaurant restrictions, new dining options are on the horizon. Top Chef” star Richard Blais’ has a new restaurant in Carlsbad and he dropped by our Scene in San Diego podcast to talk all about it. Then there’s a new sushi spot at Sky Deck, the debut of an Italian restaurant at a familiar spot, Hong Kong-inspired desserts and the best Indian food in San Diego. Eater San Diego shares those top stories from our local food and drink scene.
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For many years, celebrity chef Richard Blais has been dogged by the nickname of “the guy with the liquid nitrogen tank.”
During two seasons on Bravo’s “Top Chef” series, the Del Mar resident became well-known for using molecular gastronomy techniques like the freezing liquid in his season-winning dishes. But that was a decade ago and Blais hopes that his latest local restaurant project, Ember & Rye at the Park Hyatt Aviara, better reflects where he is as a chef today.
Slated to open in March, if public health orders allow outdoor dining by then, Ember & Rye is replacing the resort’s 30-year-old Argyle Steakhouse, which overlooks the 18th hole of the resort’s golf course on the north shore of Batiquitos Lagoon.
Eater San Diego: Butcher Shop Expands to Poway, Spawns Burger Chain A round-up, via Eater San Diego, of this week s top stories in San Diego s food and drink scene By Candice Woo, Edited by Monica Garske •
Published January 15, 2021 •
Updated on January 15, 2021 at 10:40 am
Swagyu Chop Shop
From a new butcher shop in Poway (with a burger chain in tow) to new beginnings for well-known local restaurants and chefs, Eater San Diego shares the biggest stories of the week from San Diego s food and drink scene.
Swagyu Chop Shop Lands in Poway
Led by chef Steve Brown, Swagyu Chop Shop debuted during the pandemic in Imperial Beach and will open another location in Poway this weekend. The butcher shop, which specializes in high-end wagyu beef, will also be opening a nearby wagyu burger spot in Poway with plans to add a North Park outpost.