One Trick Pony

On Top Chef: Chicago Locales

If Top Chef is the foodie Superbowl, then Hell’s Kitchen is Roller Derby and Next Food Network Star is like watching Olympic curling. Bravo has somehow, through its fabulous charms, made the most legitimate of cooking competition shows, attracting real talent and using none of the gross-out gimmicks of Gordon Ramsey’s program. As for this season, I’m surprised that TWO hipster contestants (Andrew, Spike) have made it this far, but I am rooting for Spike to pack his knives and his faux-fedora collection back to Williamsburg (ha, I only guessed at where he lives, but here’s the proof).

The “Spike Hate” can be best summrized by Grub Street’s Josh Ozersky:

“Ozersky: The problem with Spike is he’s not quite incompetent enough to lose, but he’s neither skilled nor intelligent nor hardworking enough to win. He’s the kind of guy that floats along in college, getting Bs and having a hot girlfriend, and never quite gets his comeuppance. Then you end up working for him.”

I’m completely torn between Stephanie and Richard, it’s like Hillary and Barack all over again. Do I go for the woman because Stephanie is truly talented and that a woman belongs in a four michelin star kitchen as much as a man? Or do I side myself with the charmistic and gastronomy-dork Richard?
With its main event is Restaurant Wars—a competition where two teams dream up their own restaurant and serve the kind of food they’ve want—being cut out, at least at least there was still some fun Chicago-locale sightings. I’m not talking about the obvious ones like where the Cheftestants live, Second City or the Bears Stadium, but locations that are a little more subtle.

The Wedding Episode: Clearly, this was at Galleria Marchetti on Halsted (825 W. Erie). When I used to work near the area, I’d always wonder why there was a gorgeous green zone right next to the highway.

Galleria Marchetti

Top Chef Kitchen: I’ve become more and more convinced that that the location is the former Stoli Hotel space on Ashland and Lake. There’s a train station/warehouse depot looking building that was being turned into condos, and its enormous raw space would be perfect for something like Top Chef. Any other ideas?



More Chicago related food reads: New York says Chicago Poaches Chefs, I say Pshaw Losers