Live Q&As

I don't think it came down to the dessert after reading Tom's blog.  I think it came down to the overall impression of the entire meal.

Absolutely.  I think it got a little bit hyped up for what it was.  I think being a chef is about learning and teaching and sharing information.  I definitely didn't have a problem sharing my notebook with anyone.

We eat pretty simple.  Fresh pasta is probably a dish I like making with my three year old.  Nothing like making edible playdough.  I'd be dishonest if I said that I don't make at least one peanut butter and jelly or cream cheese and jelly sandwich a day.  That's my kind of go-to lunch for school.

I mean, in all honesty, going into it we didn't know who was going to be competing.  I was a little frustrated that there weren't any previous winners in the cast.  If you won a season then you're already an all-star.   It would have been good to see some winners participate.

Many chefs inspire me.  The time I spent with Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud.  Those are definitely two chefs I look up to greatly and that have inspired my cooking.

Two chefs that I'm a big fan of are David Chang and Wylie Dufresne.

I'm still working on trying to put a few pieces together for that.  $200,000 is a lot of money, but it's not enough to open a restaurant.  It's definitely something that's going to happen, but it's something that I'm working on.

Thank you on the congrats!  Really, for a culinary student it's to just get as much live restaurant work as possible.  School is great and I loved my time at culinary, but the live kitchen is where you get real experience.

Tell her to take her down time if she can and go on her own time and learn at different restaurants.  Peel a lot of potatoes and peel a lot of vegatables and do what she can.  Most restaurants will let you come into their kitchens for a day and help out.  Get used to the grind and physicalness of working in a restaurant. 

I think it was just OMG.  I don't know if she expected me to win so she was just kind of shocked.  I called her pretty early in the morning and she was just very excited and just, you know, shocked.

Flip Burger is coming to DC.  We had a little bit of a stall with a real estate deal, but it is coming now in an undisclosed location.  I apologize to everyone in DC for not having that up yet. 

I do have his business plan on my laptop.  That's still on the table.  I definitely invest in Mike in spirit and there  We've kinda kicked around the idea of doing a modern Italian "Primadonna" which I think would be pretty neat.

I think I definitely I have a ton of respect Jenn Carroll and Angelo Sosa.  It's hard to go back and think about what you felt before you started cooking.  I thought that they'd definitely advance really far in the competition.

Once the competition starts you realize that there are a lot of people competing well.  There are a bunch of people that could have gotten to the end.

I just think what everyone saw was what chefs go through when they're awaiting a big review.  A chef being very focused and intense.  A restaurant chef might have a review once a year.   On Top Chef it looks like we're getting reviews every week but really we're getting them every day.  Some of it certainly was the pressure of wanting to succeed and do well.

On Top Chef it's really just about looking around the kitchen and figuring out what's going to work best for the dish.  Most of it comes down to how it's going to feel to eat a dish on that designed plate.  To me it's much more about the function.  Most chefs like to use a base or off white plate to show the color of the food. 

For the restuarants a lot of online shopping, for sure.

That's someone's opinion and I've certainly never said that she didn't desrve to win.  She certainly did.  Sometimes you have to read between the lines about what people are saying.  I think expressing disappointment about your performance is ok and that's all it is.  I've never ever said that she didn't deserve to win.

The cookbook is in the really early stages.  That'll take at least a year, unfortunately, and we're in the process of finding a publisher.

Blais Off was only a 2 episode instance.  Currently, we're in the stages of pitching Blais Off to some networks.

I'm a big fan of the season too, and I think you got it exactly right.  It was 18 extremely talented chefs and if you played it out 18 times then you'd have 18 different winners.  It was definitely tougher than the first go around.  I think it's fair to say that it was the toughest seaon in Top Chef history.

I'm a huge fan of yours and love your blog and everything you do.  I have enjoyed some of your recaps this season.  It's a huge compliment being compared to Antonia's food because it's so fluid.  I'm a huge fan, so it's a compliment to be in that category with her.

I almost passed out too! And yes, Embry Lotus Blais is seven weeks and she just made her first airplane flight two days ago.

Not that I'm aware of, but I've been saying all along that I'd love a Top Chef Champions League for winner with, I don't know, a million bucks? And yes, I'd partcipate tomorrow if they asked.

There would be a long list, but I'd say that the three I had working with me in the finale last night.  Angelo and Antonia and Spike - their drive to work with me in the finale - they are equally as deserving of the win last night. 

I just kind of discovered it on my own. I was doing what most people do - going to college but not really studying  anything I wanted to do.  As I kept going I started cooking at places to earn my college tuition and pay for school.

My roots are pretty humble.  McDonald's was my first job.  Many restaurants after that I sort of realized the camraderie of the kitchen and instant gratification of cooking something for someone and making someone happy.

But I'll always remember that McDonalds.  To me that's a really big part of my story and that's important for me to express.